Thinkpads Forum

I have a T60 and I'm looking for advice on two "disaster planning" issues.

First, what's the best way to protect my data in case the laptop is ever stolen. Is there anything preloaded on the puppy (accessable through Thinkvantage, perhaps) that will do the trick? Or is it best to use a 3rd party encryption application? Any suggestions / recommnedations would be greatly appreciated. I have a lot of sensitve client data that I don't want falling into the wrong hands.

Second, what's the best way to backup the data on this machine in the event it's stolen or the hard drive dies? I've used the resuce and recovery software, backing up my data to the hard drive, but that, of course, will do little if the machine is stolen. Does a maxtor one-touch make the most sense? What are people out there using? And, if you're backing up your data to an external drive, are you also using the rescue and recovery software, or would that be redundant?

I apologize for the basic nature of my questions (I'm a bit of newbie). Thanks again.

I'm sure we all do things a bit differently. I have a Desktop computer, and I use Briefcase plus Total Commander to keep critical files synchronized on both computers on a daily basis. I keep most email naturally on both computers and weekly, I sync the calendar, contacts and notes from my laptop to my desktop. The rest can be re-installed from source. I lost the HD on my laptop quite a while back (air bag debacle), and I figure I recovered 98 percent or more of what I lost. No big issue. ... JD Hurst

there are as many ways of doing all this as there are people... no doubt ... but here is what I suggest ...

a) strong user password and even stronger administration password (numbers, symbols, and lots of them ... and use the fingerprint reader ... and never use the adminstrator level for everyday use

b) very strong password the bios ... if someone steels the laptop ... well it will make a good paper weight ...

c) everything that is sensitive in one directory protected by password and encryption ... the one that comes with Thinkpads is not bad

d) automatic back ups... true image to create an image .....

e) backup to a secured server daily via an FTP client .... and backup up in to a secured partition of my drive along with email material ....

the key is to have it all automatic ... otherwise the day you forget is the day that the disaster happens ...

oh and an image of the drive of course ... and if you have really important stuff (which I don't) do not delete but use a shredder of some sort ...

one can never be too paranoid

Steve
T

You can use Rescue and Recovery to backup to CD's (impractical), DVD's, another hard drive (either in Ultrabay, or USB, or via LAN). However Rescue and Recovery is quite slow, and doesn't do a verify. I would recommend something else.

For a backup program, StompSoft Backup MyPC works pretty good. Most people here seem to prefer cloning their hard drive to another drive for backup purposes. I still feel that a backup is recommended even if you clone. After all, who is going to clone a drive every day? While I don't do this, I would have to say that jdhurst's method would seem to be an excellent way to maintain a backup - better than what I have been doing.

Your laptop comes with powerful security software. If you need it, then it should work well. Just one note of caution. Go slow, read about what you want to do before you leap. Do not upgrade Rescue and Recovery or the Client Security Software, or even the Fingerprint Reader Software unless you have a full backup ready if things go wrong. There are some active threads in the Windows OS forum of nightmares upgraders are having.

I use Drive Crypt Plus Pack from SecurStar. It's whole-drive encryption activated by code in the bootloader that's transparent to the OS. The encryption is said to be strong (256bit AES) and the drive can be moved to another computer (even a different brand) and still be used. Overhead is so small that I don't notice a difference before and after encryption.

I honestly don't understand CSS or perhaps I would use that. I like the idea of hardware to do the en/de-cryption but I worry that I could only use the drive in that computer or perhaps another ThinkPad with an ESS chip and that wouldn't meet my requirements.

I will be the first to admit, though, that I have a very superficial understanding of CSS and could be completely wrong.

-darren

SafeGuard Easy for encryption. Installing this software is a breeze and it is bulletproof - no backdoors etc. You should also notice that the software is manufactured by Utimaco. This is the same company that is the manufacturer for the IBM factory installed security software for virtual encrypted disks. However, if/when you decide to use fullencryption software you do not need to use any other passwords or encrypted virtual disks.

I've personally been using this software for years with many laptop brands and never ever experienced any problems.

I've uninstalled r&r because it is so slow to use. I don't need full image of the drive so my "backup" is XP Pro cd + frequent (encrypted) copy of "my documents" etc. If you drive ever fails it is faster and easier to "recover" the whole system with XP and then download all needed drivers from IBM site.

Q