Larry,

You were lucky. But from my perspective it is not just about backing up for safety sake. Although I have seen hard drives crash that did not allow data recovery. Doing digital full-time as I have for 15 years now it is also about organization and being able to locate and access files efficiently.

Some years ago I thought an image database was the cat's meow, until I realized how much data entry maintenance was involved. Beside being ultimately boring a database maintenance takes time from imaging I don't want to and can't afford, andr don't want to trust a hired hand to do it.

So, when the first CDR burner came along I bought one, and started archiving digital photo files on Gold/Gold CDR discs. With each disc full I make a Contact Sheet in Photoshop and print it. The name and number of the CD is the heading for each Contact Sheet. And each page goes in a plastic protector, and then into a 3 ring binder. None of the files is compressed, and nearly all are at least 12x18 inches by 300dpi.

Some of the Gold/Gold CDR discs are 10 years old, and still read fine. But I may start re-copying them before long even though they are supposed to have a 75 year life.

In the beginning the CDR burner and the blank discs were a bit pricey, but now both are extremely affordable, and the burners are much faster. Its both a secure system, easily organized and inexpensive, about 10 cents per image.

Larry
Congratulations on the recovery of your files! I myself have never experienced hard drive problems (knock-on-wood), and,admittedly,have become a bit lazy with regard to scheduled back-ups.
I have only a small fraction of the files you have, but can imagine your tensions associated with the possibility of their loss. Your experience is just the kick in the pants I

The first thing that I do is burn the cd, either in the field on the portable or at home with the computer. These are my negatives, filed by date/event.
After I do whatever in PS, a second cd is burned in Tif format and archieved with the "negatives".
I never leave important photos on the harddrive for more than a week and always have the negs to fall back on.

I've just updated the information on my web page . It took 87 DVDs (and four days) to back up my 372 Gigs of data, but it's all restorable and searchable through the index file Retrospect creates. Like David said, it's also about being able to find images when you need them. I'm not disciplined enough to use a program like Portfolio but I do have a complex structure of folders using key words and dates and can find what I'm looking for using ACDSee to thumbnail everything.

I use an external drive to hold all my photos. That way, if there is ever a failure on my main computer the photos are safe. I also use my external drive to backup my accounting software. When I download photos I immediately burn them to a cd. This is my second line of defense. I have not lost a photo (knock on wood) yet using this method.

Plus after taking all the files and backing them up it is important to take ocassional incremental back ups and store them off site. Usually I have taken dvd or data tape backups and store them in a saftey deposit box at the bank. I do this incase I have a fire at home and lose all of my programming or photography work.

People don't think it will happen to them till it does...

Everyone who is using DVD-R for archiving should consider what the expected life of this media is. Consider the recording medium of DVD-R is a dye layer, which in time can fade, which will make the DVD-R unreadable.

On the other hand Gold/Gold CD-R has been rated with an expected life of 75 years. The difference is a ultra thin coat of real gold above and below the dye layers protecting it from radiation (light) and deterioration.