Alternative to floppy?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Dan Goldstein, who's lucky his message title made it past my spam  
filter <g>, wondered: <<A current procedure tells the customer to  
save a configuration file to a floppy disk, write-protect the floppy,  
label the floppy, and store the floppy for future reference. Happy  
2008! Floppy has left the building. The PC in question wouldn't  
necessarily have a CD-ROM burner, so that's not an option. A thumb  
drive isn't as easily write-protected, and of course some customers  
would be tempted to overwrite it and use it for other purposes. The  
PC in question wouldn't necessarily have e-mail access, but it would  
probably have Internet access. Still, it would be nice to come up  
with a cheap, simple, hard-media alternative to the floppy. Any  
thoughts?>>

If you've got Internet access, you have e-mail access: Gmail, Yahoo,  
whatever. I usually teach people (e.g., in editing workshops) that  
the simplest of all backup strategies is to open a free Gmail account  
and send their files to their Gmail account (via the Web interface if  
they aren't using their e-mail software for whatever reason).

But the real issue here is not the means to an end, but rather the  
end itself: making a secure copy you can easily retrieve. So the  
solution is to word the description in that manner: "Once you have a  
stable configuration file, make a safe copy somewhere so you can  
retrieve it if necessary: for example, use removable storage media  
(such as a diskette, thumb drive, or CD), or in a backup directory on  
your network. Label the copy clearly so that you don't accidentally  
erase that copy."

----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
***Now available***  _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)

Print version: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=1505747

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.