[Tech Tips] Problems with Mozy restore

I was all enthusiastic when I heard about Mozy, a new online backup service that was offering 2GB for free. Since I was just in the process of relocating from the US to Germany, and was also writing my PhD thesis at the same time, I enrolled as a second-line backup method (the first backup being an external harddisk mirror). Boy was I disappointed.

Actually, the backing up itself was no problem. It even went so well, that I shelled out the $5 a month to get unlimited storage, and also backed up all of my critical data files. That was apparently my mistake. I had 31 GB in my Mozy account, when my computer crashed (which is prone to happen when you are writing PhD theses).

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The short version of the story is, I still can't restore all of my files, after over a month of pestering them.

Their system works this way--when you want to restore your files, you choose the files on their web interface, and then ask their servers to create a restore set, which is a self-extracting archive. Once this restore set is created, you get an email and can go back to their website to download it.

Well, what happens when I try to create a "restore set" to download is their servers invariably cut the process short, and I only get a portion (on the worst try, 2 MB) worth of files. Technical support has repeatedly notified me that it is a "bug" in their program and they will fix it very soon... but 40 days later, I still do not have my restore files. Luckily, my first-line backup (external harddisk) saved me, but from experience, I strongly advise against putting too much faith into Mozy (or perhaps any other service). You should definitely try out the restore process beforehand, before you actually need it.

Customer support has been lousy. Of course, I probably would not count as their best customer (I mean, 30 GB for $5/mo is a bargain), but still, when it comes to backing up critical data, you do wish they were more responsive. Every time I contact them, a new person (with a generic name--I wonder if they are contractors in India or Kenya) tells me that the problem will be solved very soon, and then nothing until I email them again. This has continued for well over a month.

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40 days and counting... if they snap out of it and get their act together, I will post again here.

In the meantime, I have started using Carbonite instead. Their interface has a shell extention, and so you can browse your backed-up files in real time, in the Windows Explorer. Right now, I have uploaded 27 GB, and all of the files seem alright in Windows Explorer, so I am assuming that all is well. I will try a full restore some time soon.