safe

Editors' note: This blog was originally posted on March 30, 2012, and updated on March 29, 2013, to update the list of devices and add relevant information.

This last Sunday of March is World Backup Day, and you'll see a lot of storage/backup vendors taking this occasion to pitch their products. I am about to do a similar thing, but from a very different point of view: yours.

This is because none of the existing vendors goes as far as guaranteeing the integrity of storage on the products. At most, a vendor would give you a new product to replace the broken one, or in the currently unique case of IoSafe, offer to pay up to a certain amount toward data recovery. I, on the other hand, promise, if not guarantee, that if you follow my advice, your data will be safe.… Read more

Tomorrow, as we've mentioned, is known in some quarters as World Backup Day. While we at Crave like to think of every day as Backup Day, we also understand that life (in the form of laziness, procrastination, and lack of a backup device) can get in the way of even the best backup intentions. This week's giveaway is here to help.

The winner will score an IoSafe Solo G3 external hard drive. As CNET's storage and networking reviewer Dong Ngo has personally discovered, the disaster-proof SoloPro lineup can survive serious abuse. For its part, the Solo G3 is designed to withstand temperatures up to 1,550 degrees Fahrenheit, submersion in 10-foot-deep water for up to three days, and other extreme conditions (but, hey, don't get carried away).

The Solo G3, like its predecessor, houses just one 3.5-inch internal hard drive. However, unlike the previous version, it sports a fanless design, making for nearly silent operation. It measures 5 inches by 7.1 inches by 11 inches, weighs 15 pounds, and is compatible with Windows and Mac.

Normally, the IoSafe Solo G3 external hard drive would cost you $299.99, but you have the chance to score one free. So how do you go about trying to win? Please read carefully; there will be a test (and please, whatever you do, back up your answers). … Read more

Apple's Safe Mode option will boot OS X to a minimal environment where only a basic set of kernel extensions are loaded, disabling unnecessary services like Bluetooth and support for third-party add-ons that might be causing problems for your system. To get to Safe Mode, you simply hold the Shift key down at startup; however, there are times when systems might appear to be stuck in Safe Mode and always boot to it, regardless of whether you command it to do so.

If this happens, there are several approaches you can take to tackle the problem.

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about a Mac continuously booting to Safe Mode, an apparent missing option to ignore ownership on an external volume, where and how to look up Mac model information, and ways to prevent OS X from reopening programs and windows at startup. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions then post them in the comments!

Question: Mac continuously booting to Safe Mode MacFixIt reader Andreas asks:

LAS VEGAS--IoSafe has finally learned that silence is golden.

In addition to the new Rugged Portable Thunderbolt that was announced with a bang, the maker of disaster-proof storage devices also unveiled today at CES 2012 the brand-new Solo G3 external hard drive.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you don't know what a Thunderbolt drive is, and most importantly, how vulnerable your data can be, IoSafe wants to sear that in your mind.

Following its tradition of the last three CES shows, (and as I predicted prior to CES 2012), the maker of disaster-proof hard drives pulled off a spectacular show this year to unveil its Rugged Portable Thunderbolt drive. This time the demo came with a little twist.

The new drive itself is very similar to the previous USB 3.0 Rugged Portable that was introduced at last year's demo--and shot with shotguns. … Read more

Memorable passwords aren't secure, but secure passwords aren't memorable. The right tools can resolve this standoff, such as KeePass Password Safe. This free, open source password manager securely records and stores all your passwords and user names. You only need to remember the master password to access your database, or you can protect it with a key file. It rates passwords for strength and can also generate secure passwords and random numbers. Its autotype feature can even type in your user name and password, or any keystroke combination, into a browser window, log-on screen, or other fields. It … Read more

Apple's MagSafe connections for its laptop power adapters allows the connections to be quickly detached from systems, the benefits of which are obvious to anyone who has ever caught a foot in the power cord of a charging device and yanked it to the floor from its resting perch.

The MagSafe adapter is a great idea, but a number of people complained that its first iterations did have a couple of flaws that resulted in the cable getting twisted and bent (a situation called "strain relief"). In some instances this strain would cause the cable components to … Read more

Apple has reached a proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit involving older models of its MagSafe power adapters.

Those particular adapters, the 60W and 85W versions that shipped on earlier models of the company's MacBook and MacBook Pro portable computers, were prone to splitting and became the target of a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed that the particular adapter design was defective to the point of where it "dangerously frays, sparks and prematurely fails to work." The 2009 filing accused Apple of knowing about, and misrepresenting the problem, claims Apple denied in court. AdapterSettlement.com'… Read more