An anonymous reader writes:
If you back up your files using IOmega, you might think your data is safely secured. But if you happen to choose to compress the backup files (i.e. the default) option, your data will be saved into a format which can't be uncompressed without a configuration file that's stored on your primary HD (i.e. the one that just crashed). You can read about this on IOmega's customer support forum:
http://www.iomegasupportforums.com/phpbb2/viewtopi c.php?t=2453&highlight=recover
I've included the first exchange because I think they will probably remove this thread if it gets too much notice. First, the desperate customer:
"I have my entire hard drive backed up to an external hard drive using Iomega Automatic Backup Pro. Just a few days ago my hard drive crashed, had to get a new hard drive. When I go to recover my files it cant find the configuration files. I did some research and very very oddly....the files required to retrieve my backup were on the hard drive that was backed up and now crashed. Defeating the entire purpose of a backup software. What can I do now to recover my files since the configuration files were destride on the origional drive? Please help!"
Now, the not-so-helpful (nor literate) tech-support:
"If you backed up your files using IAB pro with the compress option. If you moved any of the files on the drive or off the drive then there isn't a way to recover the files. Next time you do a backup make sure you are not compressing the files.
Did you move any of the files on the drive where you backed up the files to?"