MyPcBackup and "unlimited" storage

[click on the screenshots in this post to make them readable]

I began using MyPcBackup several months ago because it looked like a good alternative to Mozy.com (which I have used for a few years now). They advertised unlimited backup space and went to great lengths on their web site to claim that they had no limitations based on file numbers or sizes or total storage space. 
 

"Unlimited" storage page from MyPcBackup web site
http://www.mypcbackup.com/featured-unlimited-storage

My current account status on the MyPcBackup web site

After several weeks of sending data their product stopped working on my system. After several email messages involving log files, and ultimately a bug fix to the program, it started working again, for a while, but then stopped again for no apparent reason.

After another round of emails (see below), it was determined that I am being cut-off because I have used more than my limit of data storage. It appears to me that MyPcBackup intends to use their Fair Use policy to weasel their way out of providing what they promise. Apparently, my “usage greatly exceeds the average level of monthly usage of MPCB's customers, generally.”

If you have more than what I'm using (250 GB), you might end up in the same category I'm in and be out of commission. You can purchase a laptop at Costco for $500 that has double that amount of space. A backup copy of a movie can easily run 2 GB and in full HD, even more. With all of my data (50K+ images, lots of music, some videos), I have about 700 GB of stuff on my 2 TB drive that needs to be backed up.

So, anyway, I just wanted to share what I've learned about this company/service and help others make good decisions about where to spend their time and money.

The following is the email conversation I had with MyPcBackup in chronological order with the final message pointing me to section 14 of their terms:

Subject: [#8270] Missing files - from help center
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On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 10:51, [support@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi,

Thank you for contacting MyPC Backup Support

We have received your email and will reply to it within 24 hours.

**Please do not submit multiple tickets! Submitting multiple will delay the response of your ticket, as it will put your previous email back to the bottom of the queue**

If you think of anything which you would like to add to your email to support please reply to this email, and it will update your current message.

Kind regards,

MyPC Backup Support Team
www.mypcbackup.com

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On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 12:06, [founders@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Doug,

Thank you for your email. Due to the total size of the files that you are trying to back up you may wish to consider a business solution to your backup needs. Unfortunately at this time we do not offer such a package and so our product may not be suitable for you. This may be why you are experiencing difficulties with the software.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience this may cause, please let us know how you wish to proceed

Kind regards,
Gabe
--
Gabriel Bernardez
Sales Supervisor
MyPCBackup
www.mypcbackup.com

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On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 15:21, Douglas B. McKay wrote:

Your advertising says "Unlimited Storage" as one of the features of your software. Does that mean something different than what it sounds like? I chose your service specifically because of this. I currently have an "unlimited" account with Mozy. Unfortunately, it is going to expire (they don't offer "unlimited" anymore) and I was hoping to use your service as their replacement.

...Doug

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On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 01:02, [cancel@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Douglas,

Thank you for writing back to us.

I have escalated your concern to the relevant department for further solution. You will receive an email from them at the earliest.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Kind Regards,
Lucas Donald

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On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 02:14, [support@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Douglas,

Thank you for your email.

Currently MyPC Backup does not allow the backup of any Servers. LAN or NAS drives, due to their capability.

If you are looking for a service to backup Servers. LAN or NAS drives, we would advise contacting a company who offers a more business driven option.

You can backup stand alone hard drives or standard external/USB Drives here.

Due to the total size of the files that you are trying to back up you may wish to consider a business solution to your backup needs. Unfortunately at this time we do not offer such a package and so our product may not be suitable for you. This may be why you are experiencing difficulties with the software.


Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Kind Regards,
Will Baker

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On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 22:47, Douglas B. McKay wrote:

Hello Will,

I am not attempting to backup any Servers, LAN, or NAS drives. I just have one drive in my system (well, two - a 64 GB boot drive, and a 2 TB data drive). I set it to only backup the files in the important directories instead of the whole drive. It did all of the document files, but stopped part way through the music files, and didn't do any of my picture files. This is just my personal system - not for business purposes or anything. I realize that I do have a lot of files, but that is exactly what led me to your solution...unlimited storage. I'd like to get it working as it seems to be a very good way to keep my files safe. I have used Mozy for a few years, but as you know, they don't offer unlimited storage any longer and I need to find a replacement provider before my subscription with them expires next year.

...Doug

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On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 23:50, [support@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Baker,

Thank you for your email.

Due to the total size of the files that you are trying to back up you may wish to consider a business solution to your backup needs. Unfortunately at this time we do not offer such a package and so our product may not be suitable for you.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience this may cause, please let us know how you wish to proceed.”

Kind regards,
Will Baker

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On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 23:52, [support@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Douglas,

Thank you for your email.

I apologize that I addressed you wrongly in the previous email.

Kind Regards,
Will Baker

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On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 00:34, Douglas B. McKay wrote:

Will,

So, this is the second time I have received a response like this. Are you saying that MyPCBackup IS NOT suitable for me because of the total size of my files? Or is there a chance that it MAY work if I can change a setting or whatever? I would like to get your software to work to backup all of my files.

...Doug

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On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 07:07, [founders@mypcbackup.com] wrote:

Hi Doug,

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately it will not be possible to back up the increased number of files on our server. The reason for this is that such a large amount will affect the processing time for the additional files to the point that it will take an increasingly long amount of time to complete your backup.

I'm sorry about this, we are happy to fully refund any payments you have made to us.

Please let us know how you wish to proceed.

Kind regards,
Gabe
--
Gabriel Bernardez
Sales Supervisor
MyPCBackup
www.mypcbackup.com

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On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:12, Douglas B. McKay wrote:

Gabe,

I am not very concerned about the speed of the backup, just that it happens. I don't mind that it takes a long time for the initial backup - it is to be expected that it takes a long time. My files are mostly static and relatively small. There are a few exceptions of course (e.g. my image catalog database), but mostly, I create new files by scanning my family's old slides, or by adding digital images from my camera.

If we can get it to work, I'm happy to continue my account with you. Is there a fixed number of files that I should not exceed? I may be able to exclude some files, or perhaps Zip some of them up.

Thanx!
...Doug

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On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 20:36, Douglas B. McKay wrote:

I did a small test and removed some of my files from the backup list, but it didn't seem to help. Surely other users have more/larger files than I'm working with that they want to backup.

Your web site says:

Unlimited Storage
Unlike other online backup providers we don't limit the amount of files you can backup, enjoy the freedom of unlimited online backup.

The answer you provided below seems to indicate that there is a limit. Please let me know which is actually true. I'd still like to resolve this problem and get the software working for me.

...Doug

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On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 06:36, [founders@mypcbackup.com] wrote:
Hi Douglas,

Thank you for your email.

Here at MyPCBackup we do operate with a fair usage policy, our products or services are designed to serve the needs of particular types of users, such as individual consumers or small businesses.

If the service is inappropriate for your actual usage, we may require you to switch to an appropriate product or service which may result in your having to pay additional fees for use of the appropriate product or to terminate your services with us and issue a full refund.

From time to time, we may establish or amend general operating practices to maximize the operation and availability of our products or services and to prevent abuses. We reserve the right to monitor our system to identify excessive consumption of network resources and to take such technical and other remedies as we deem appropriate. Your consumption of our products or services may be deemed excessive if, within any month, your usage greatly exceeds the average level of monthly usage of our customers, generally.

In the event you are deemed to have violated these policies, we reserve the right to limit your backups or terminate your services or account.

For full clarification on this issue please refer to www.mypcbackup.com/terms , Section 14. Termination and Fair Use Policy.

However we appreciate this can be frustrating and would fully understand if you wish to terminate your services and receive a full refund.

Thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards,
--
Matt Curd
Troubleshooting & Support team
MyPCBackup
www.mypcbackup.com

It’s likely that because they are based in the UK, they aren’t subject to US laws or the possibility of a class-action lawsuit for false or misleading advertising. I don’t know the rules on that stuff anyway, but at the very least, I hope to make more people aware of how they are operating. Here are some places where you can read/submit reviews of MyPcBackup:

• C|Net
• Onlinestorage.com
• Reviewopedia
• onlinebackupsearch.com
• Online Backups Review
• The Best 10 Online Backup
  

Feel free to chime in and add your comments here.

Notes on UPS units from UCARES picnic give-away

Since so many UPS units (~30) found new homes at the recent UCARES picnic, and because I didn't get a chance to modify this batch to add Anderson Connectors or put labels on them, I thought it would be good to compile a short list of notes that may help anyone who ended up with one make good use of it.

• All of them are used. They all used to work. I don't know if they work now or not. If you ended up with one that doesn't work, let me know - I think I can get a few more and can trade you.
• I have used them to charge and maintain 12 volt SLA batteries that were rated from 7 to 100 amps.
• Multiple batteries can be floated from a single UPS.
• They will NOT power a radio bigger than an HT for an extended period.
• You can use batteries (while connected) with higher drain radios without problems as long as the batteries themselves can handle the load.
• They provide about 0.75 A of charging current. A large battery will take a LONG time to charge at this rate.
• They float at about 14.0 Volts. A little on the high side (at the expense of battery longevity), but keeps the batteries fully charged and ready for use should there be a call-out, etc.
• SLA batteries can be left connected to the UPS indefinitely. I would expect about 3-5 years of life (a guess, not a formula) from a brand new battery if left connected and never used.
• They will work as normal UPS units and can provide backup power to a computer, etc. Just be sure to use large enough leads to the battery(ies) (at least 12 ga for full rated capacity).
• To turn the units on when 120 Volt power is not available, press and hold the power button until the unit beeps, then release the button while it's beeping.

Some of my other posts that may be helpful:

• Stuff about UPSs
• UCARES training item about batteries
• Be careful - batteries can do bad things

Last, here's a close up picture of the way I have modified these UPS units to put connectors on them for convenient use with my batteries:

I drilled a 1/2" exit hole for the wires (which are just barely long enough if you cut the original connectors off right at the end). I used hot glue on this one, but that wasn't the best idea I've ever had. You can see that it is loose now (3 years later) and doesn't keep the wires from moving in the hole. A grommet would have been better, but they are a bit of a pain to install and thread the wires through. I have had better success with using kneadable epoxy putty and just pressing it into place into the hole and around the wires. You may also choose to leave the original internal wiring intact and simply tap into the lines to bring a longer connection out the back. This would allow you to use an internal battery if you want as well as an external one if needed. Keep the wires as short as possible. At its full rated load, this UPS can draw over 30 Amps.

Is Sprint misinformed about Lithium batteries?

An article I just received from Sprint in an e-mail claims that the Lithium batteries in their phones degrade after only 80 charge cycles and that I should "only charge it when the battery is almost empty."

That goes against everything I've ever heard/read about Lithium based rechargeable batteries. Here are two sources I grabbed quickly:

From BatteryUniversity.com:

The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible.

From the Laptop Battery blog:

it is better to recharge more often; avoid frequent full discharges.

Perhaps their marketing folks were reading from old spec sheets on Nickel-Cadmium based batteries which would actually benefit from this advice.

If anyone sees other resources to substantiate or refute this claim from Sprint, please post a comment.

4-3-2009: I found another couple of references to good discussions:

http://spicygadget.com/2006/12/24/guide-getting-the-most-out-of-your-lithium-battery/

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/lithium-ion-battery2.htm

Fun with dogs

There's almost always a good story to be had if you keep animals (or children :) and today's version goes like this...

About 11pm after watching an episode of Stargate SG-1, our 120 pound Alaskan Malamute, Itok (short for Maniitok) starts barking strangly. We always know when something is going on because we are used to his normal "talk" (he chats with his friends and howls a little each night) and this was not normal. We looked out and discovered a new white dog in our yard. It was not a small one either; he looked like a large Husky or maybe even a small Malamute and probably weighed 70-90 pounds. One we've never seen before. Not knowing what to think, I watched for a minute and it looked like the two of them were getting along ok (at least they were not fighting), so I went out and try to see if it had a collar, etc. It didn't want me anywhere near it, so I decided not to persist.

It looked like it was trying to climb over the fence in the upper corner of our yard. Since we live in a hilly area, our neighbor's yards in that back corner are at widely different levels. On our side, we have a 6 foot fence. In the neighbor's yard to the North, our fence looks only about 1 foot high because the ground slopes off really fast. In the house diagonally across from us, the bottom of their fence is visible to us above the top of our fence. I figure the dog got in our North neighbor's yard (I don't think it's completely fenced - or if it is, I know they have a 4 ft section in the front) and jumped into our yard at that corner.

(Here's a shot of Itok standing by the tree where he treed a Racoon last summer. It shows the fences near the corner where most animals seem to come into our yard.)

Anyway, since this dog had a collar and looked well cared for, rather than letting it out to roam the neighborhood, we called to see if an Animal Control Officer was available. One wasn't, but they sent a couple of Lindon's finest out anyway. They brought the department's animal trailer, but neither of them had any experience as dog catchers. They tried valiantly for about 15 minutes to catch the very smart, but uncooperative beast before giving up and just letting him go out the gate into the street. I asked them to let me know how things turned out as they drive off after it. I never heard...

Battery testing and a good inexpensive charger

I have been testing a good number of batteries lately that have been coming out of UPS units where I work. I had 2 dozen sitting in my area last week. I am down now to half of that, but I have quite a few at home still that I need to check out (and a large pile that needs to be taken to the recyclers too).

In order to do this, I needed to be able to charge the batteries up in order to run them down with my tester (a CBA II). I found a really nice charger for a really good price - a Tempest BC-1250. I ordered 2 of them and so far, I really like them. They are well built (metal cases, sturdy cords) and the voltages they use are just right for the SLA batteries I use. If you have batteries sitting around going dead, don't wait - this charger is worth the $32.50 - you need to charge them up periodically so they don't sulfate and kill themselves. If you charge them up separately first, one of these chargers should be able to maintain several small/medium batteries connected in parallel.

Since I go through at least 2 charge/discharge cycles on most batteries, it has been nice to have a couple of extra chargers (I can drain them a lot faster than I can charge them). They have been perfect for the relatively small batteries I've been working with (mostly 7 & 12 Ah, but a few 18's also). For larger ones, I still have my other bigger charger.

For something that can maintain (or very slowly charge) a battery at the proper voltage, get one (or several) of these Float Chargers from Harbor Freight.

Getting APRS running again

I'm going to try to get my digipeater running again. I swapped the dual port TNC I was using for a single port that has APRS capable firmware. I won't be running an I-gate anymore, but there seem to be enough around here already. I just want it to provide extra coverage for the area.

This site in Finland is doing some really cool things with APRS. It's best to use your callsign as your username, but make something up if you don't have one, or don't want to give it.

So, the first thing I've got to do is get a USB to serial adapter to connect to the computer so I can program the settings in the TNC. Once I set it up, it can be disconnected from the computer (a major source of problems in the past) and run on its own.

The radio is a Phoenix SX 16 channel and puts out somewhere around 30 watts. The antenna is an 8 foot Diamond X200 clone installed on my roof about 30 feet up. Power is supplied by a home built power supply that float charges a 75 AH battery.

MPG in my RAV4

This past weekend, we took a trip to Idaho. It was about 250 miles in each direction and for the whole trip, I was able to average right about 23 miles per gallon while doing 80 MPH on the freeway. We were late leaving, so I may have even been pressing the speed limit a little further at times on the way up there. We had 5 people (4 adults and a 14 year-old in the 3rd row seat) and a bit of gear. I had fully inflated the tires to their maximum pressure (not the pressure listed on the car's sticker) of 44 PSI. I left my roof rack on top because it supports my ham radio antenna. I did not use any fuel saving methods (like pulse & glide or drafting a truck) or anything other than the tire pressure. Since this is our first really long trip in the RAV4, I wanted to get a baseline for the future. The 23 MPG number isn't that great (the EPA estimates on this vehicle are 19 city & 26 highway), but it's not bad considering the speed and load.

I do have some history with a trip we used to make quite often. It is a 30 mile drive with about 5 on city streets and the rest a single stretch of 65 MPH 4 lane freeway where people usually drive about 75 MPH. We mostly made the drive with just my wife and I in the car. I would usually get about 25 MPG on the way up, and 22 MPG on the way back (uphill vs. downhill + prevailing winds make the difference).

The other day, after filling the tires full and using some pulse & glide, some 3-car-length drafting for 10 miles of the trip, and keeping the speed down to around 70 MPH, I was able to get 34.4 MPG on the way up. Keeping the speed to 70, but without any other methods gave me 25 MPG on the trip home that day. I'd like to play more with Pulse and Glide, but it requires that I pay a lot more attention to driving (I guess that's good) and not to my wife (that's definately bad :(

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that there is such a difference in fuel economy just by changing a couple small things (additional tire pressure, and a 5 MPH speed reduction) gave me 13% improvement.

I'm glad I have my ScanGauge to use because I'm hardly ever able to tell by looking at the whole tank of gas what I kind of economy I got for a particular style of driving. There are many times when someone will sit in a parking lot with the engine running to keep the air conditioner running. While I still check the overall mileage, it's always disappointing that it is so much lower than what we get on these 30+ mile trips that I like to test with.

Getting the most out of the gas you have to buy

I've read lot's of stuff about saving gas (Hypermiling, etc.), but this article is one of the best I read yet. It has common sense and gives sound reasons and advice for most of the suggested items. One part that lacked some details (like why it works) was the pulse and glide section, but since they referred to it as an advanced technique, I'll forgive them. You can find more info about pulse and glide all over the net. Here's an article from Consumer Reports with a new way of looking at fuel economy.

It has been a goal of mine for the past 15 years or so to own an electric vehicle. I haven't managed it yet (practicality and economy have had to come first), but the day is getting closer...

Update to Move/Copy Tool

I've posted an update to the multithreaded Move/Copy Tool (McTool). Not a huge deal, but some needed updates and minor enhancements were made.

Check my original post or my web page for the download link.

McTool is a multithreaded Move and Copy Tool

The very first program I wrote in C (about 20 years ago now) was a program that appended one file to another. It evolved into a file copying program (DCOPY) that I shared with a few people. Since then, I have used a number of good utilities to move files around on various systems (XCopy, xXCopy, RoboCopy, TotalCopy, etc.). No one tool does everything everyone needs, but all together, perhaps they can come close. Anyway, when I couldn't find any file copy tools that supported multithreading and worked well with large numbers of small files, I wrote one.

Basically, I had tons of relatively small files (images, mp3 files, etc.) that I wanted to move around and I needed a program that could run multiple copies at once. Many systems nowadays are capable of handling multiple requests at a time (even single drives have NCQ). You no longer have to have an expensive fiber-attached SAN in order to benefit from running more than one thing at a time (a dual core processor is not even needed). Starting multiple instances of any of the tools I listed above works well to speed things up, but it was a hassle to keep things straight and I didn't want to have to bother with that all the time. Plus, at times when I have had really large sets (I've worked with millions of files, and multiple terabytes at once), the other tools just weren't able to handle it and I ran into problems.

More details and a free download link.

I rewrote McTool in C# to learn about handling threading and it uses the Microsoft .NET framework under current versions of Windows (including 2003 server, XP, Vista, 32 & 64 bit). I have not made any effort yet in putting together an installation package of any sort since it only requires two files and I think it is pretty easy to use. If I'm proven wrong by getting some feedback, that could change.

I'm pretty excited about it because it seems to work well enough in the limited testing that I've done (5-10 times faster in my tests), but I wanted to share it with others in order to see if there are any problems left that need to be fixed or other features that should be added. It seems to work for what I've been doing, but if you find this page and want to snag a copy to try out and let me know whether it works for you, that would be great! I would appreciate the feedback, and you might be able to use the tool...