Thanks to the great response by CrashPlan customers, we were able to raise tens of thousands of dollars to help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. This morning our CEO Matthew Dornquast visited the Minneapolis office of the Red Cross to hand over the check on behalf of all those who contributed.

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our customers and are proud to have helped make this possible.

Phil Hansen, CEO of the Twin Cities Red Cross, and Matthew Dornquast, CEO of Code 42

At Code 42, we’re constantly looking for new ways to better connect with you; to answer questions, hear your concerns and take any suggestions you might have to help us make CrashPlan online backup better.

This morning, AOL highlighted our efforts in their “Small Business Tip of the Day.” Our fearless leader and CEO of Code 42 Software, Matthew Dornquast, touched on the importance of businesses using social media for customer engagement and interaction. “Today, if a customer has something to say about your company or product (good or bad), it will be via a social media outlet — so don’t ignore them or, worse, make them wait,” said Dornquast.

Read more about how social media is transforming customer service and don’t forget to connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

We’re big fans of both LifeHacker and Tekzilla, so we’re especially happy to see this tech-site mashup.

Adam Pash, the big guy at LifeHacker, talks to Tekzilla’s Patrick Norton about the importance of backing up to multiple locations. And his preferred backup solution is…drum roll…CrashPlan!

Check it out -

http://revision3.com/tekzilla/lifehacker#seek=776:1199

With the coming of spring to the Midwest and its attendant variable weather, we wanted to remind all of our users of some basic tips for protecting your digital life, especially during storm season.

Protect yourself, at minimum, with a surge protector, keeping in mind that mere power strips don’t cut it. Surge protectors and battery backups should be checked or replaced every few years to ensure the highest level of effectiveness.

If you know that inclement weather is nearby, unplug your hardware, laptops, printers and other electronic devices from all power sources. More and more computers take a walk on the fried side during storm season due to power surges through modem and data lines — so be sure to also disconnect your DSL or Internet cable cord from the computer.

To protect your electronics from possibility of water damage, be sure to enclose your computer and monitor (as well as any other valuable devices) in plastic, or place in a water-tight plastic bin. If your hardware is on the ground of your home or office, be sure to lift them from the floor to protect them from flood damage.

Finally, and this should be obvious to all of our loyal CrashPlan+ users, be sure to back up your online data frequently. We suggest that you set CrashPlan to always run and that CrashPlan is set to watch the file system for changes in real-time (these are the default settings). If you are a CrashPlan+ customer, increasing your backup frequency will allow you to restore specific versions of files.

With amount of money you’ve invested in electronics, it only makes sense to protect them. If you have yet to commit online backup, might we suggest our free trial of CrashPlan+ to kick start your way into a safer storm season? Visit our CrashPlan+ site and download the free trial for Windows, Mac and Linux.

CrashPlan and CrashPlan+ have been at the forefront of our posts lately with World Backup Day still a recent memory. We’re changing things up a bit today to (re)-introduce you to CrashPlan PRO. CrashPlan PRO is enterprise software designed for organizations with the technical resources and expertise to manage a server. Take the features you know and love about the CrashPlan desktop software…

• Easy installation
• Continuous backup
• Cross-platform support
• Unobtrusive operation
• Complete protection onsite, offsite and online
• Simple restores

…and add PRO Server for enterprise-grade management and reporting:

• Remote web management
• Remote client configuration
• User groups
• Global or group based policies
• Automatic client updates
• Admin-level email alerts and reports
• Directory services integration
• Built-in migration tools
• Developer API

…for a single software solution that you own and control, providing protection for your entire business. That’s CrashPlan PRO in a nutshell.

As an added bonus, CrashPlan PRO is designed to scale, so whether your organization has 10 or 10,000+ computers to back up, you can benefit from the additional management features CrashPlan PRO provides.

Want to learn more about the cross-platform, client/server backup software that runs directly on your hardware? Download CrashPlan PRO for free and try it out for your business or check out the Planning Guide for more details on deploying CrashPlan PRO.

In the digital age we take every opportunity to acquire all kinds of important information. Going digital also empowers us with many options for creating and storing all the digital stuff we accumulate. Losing any of this information is no fun… It is no fun wasting time and effort re-downloading favorite MP3s and TV shows. And information like digital photos, home movies, financial documents, and college term papers might be impossible to reproduce. Worrying about losing files is no fun either.

Fortunately, having a solid backup and restore “one-two punch” in place means you don’t have to worry about losing any of the electronic information that you care about. Ensuring your data is safe, preferably with offsite backup, is a good way to protect yourself and your loved ones when the unexpected happens. Online backup is great way to avoid all kinds of technological hiccups like…(insert favorite worst-case scenario here). A good backup and restore solution gets you back on your feet fast and hassle-free. The best backup solution makes it easy to have backup information in multiple locations and increases your options for recovery when you need it.

Ensure secure backup to your own computers and hard drives or to friends and family with CrashPlann for free. Or, for additional backup features and a choice of 10GB or unlimited online storage plans, try CrashPlan+.

This blog post aims to address basic questions about the trial and clarify why CrashPlan+ is the right data backup service for your personal backup needs.

First, what distinguishes CrashPlan’s free service from the 30-day trial of CrashPlan+? In addition to the capabilities of our free CrashPlan software, CrashPlan+ has the following upgraded CrashPlan+ features:

• Real-time backup
• Backup sets
• Web restore
• Version retention
• Advanced scheduling
• Secure online storage
• Enhanced 448-bit encryption

So what happens to your CrashPlan+ account after your trial or the subscription expires? In addition to reverting to the free version of CrashPlan,

• Backups will no longer go to the CrashPlan Central destination.
• You cannot restore the files that you backed to CrashPlan Central.
• Only your default backup set will continue to backup.
• Expired backup sets remain visible in your backup set list.
• You cannot add new backup sets or edit backup sets you created.
• You can remove the backup sets you created.
• You can continue to restore files from destinations (except from CrashPlan Central) in your expired backup sets.

Of course, the best way to answer all of your CrashPlan+ questions is to try our 30-day trial of CrashPlan+. Visit our CrashPlan+ site and download the free trial for Windows, Mac and Linux.

As the dreaded April 15 tax deadline looms, you might find yourself asking that hypothetical question, “what would happen if I lost all of my tax paperwork?”

The tax return, often handled or calculated by online software programs or accountants, is arguably one of the most important documents in possession.

That being said, here is your friendly reminder to back up all of those ever-important tax forms, files and other documents as they relate to your finances.

Backing up a copy of your tax file is just one of many ways to stay ahead of the curve in regard to tax season. Here are some other tips to ensure smooth sailing during the filing of your taxes:

• Internal Revenue Service website - a great place to find forms and answers to FAQs. There’s even a Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center for specific questions, like which expenses can be deducted.
• Mark Your Calendar – set deadlines for yourself to complete various tasks. For example, have your receipts sorted by January 31, all your 1099s in hand by February 15, etc.
• Need An Extension? – if you think you’re going to have trouble getting your tax return done, plan now to get a six-month extension of the filing deadline.
• Tax-preparation Software – put down the pencil and calculator and use a software solution like Intuit TurboTax, H&R Block TaxCut or CCH CompleteTax to save time and ensure that your tax returns are accurate.
• Consider Hiring an Accountant – if tax-prep software isn’t a good fit for you or your business, get help lined up now. Don’t wait until April 10 when you’re in over your head.

Rest easy this year knowing that your personal information is backed up with CrashPlan!