Occasionally we see questions in the CrashPlan forum and social media channels about faster first backups. Although CrashPlan’s default settings are designed not to make heavy demands on your computer’s resources, you can temporarily change these settings to allow backups to complete faster.  This article describes the adjustments you might try, but also points out that hardware or network issues and other considerations can affect your backup speed.

Be sure to visit our support site index and check out additional information about CrashPlan tips and tricks. Or ask one of our support team members at support@crashplan.com.

As 2011 comes to a close, it’s time to start making resolutions for next year. Lex Freidman of Macworld departs from the typical resolutions (workout more often, sticking to a budget or better eating habits) and instead suggests an often-overlooked aspect of life that you’ll want to address this New Year: a data backup plan for your computer.

While we realize that CrashPlan isn’t the only online backup option on the market, it’s getting postive reviews among some of our favorite websites, including LifeHacker and Macworld.

See how Macworld takes an extra step in protection their data in their recent article, “New year’s resolution: A backup plan,” which includes unlimited, automatic backup software, CrashPlan. It’s probably the easiest resolution you’ll keep this year.

Perhaps you want to start your CrashPlan free trial or you’re the lucky recipient of a gift subscription to CrashPlan+. Or maybe you’ve been using the free trial and now you bought a CrashPlan+ subscription.  No matter which situation applies to you, this video shows you how to get started.

Learn how to:

• Download and install the CrashPlan application
• Create your account
• Start backing up to CrashPlan Central

Do you need additional information on your initial CrashPlan backup? Visit the CrashPlan support site for more.

For more How To guides and other video content, visit the CrashPlan YouTube page.

Happy World Backup Day!

The greeting card companies don’t have a monopoly on creating holidays. The Reddit community has declared today, March 31, World Backup Day, a day to remind us all to review our backup strategies and ensure our digital valuables are protected. In case you didn’t see yesterday’s blog, we are celebrating today with a World Backup Day contest.

We know that backup is boring to most people. We get that. But for all of us at Code 42 Software, backup is why we get up in the morning. We restore files all the time, but when someone takes the time to write us to say thank you for saving their wedding photos, home movies, or other irreplaceable data, it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

We especially appreciate it when people from the outside are able to distill the essence of the CrashPlan backup story. Adam Pash at Lifehacker gets it and posted a great article on their site earlier today. We’re huge fans of Lifehacker and to see an article posted on the front page of one of our favorite tech sites is humbling. Adam wrote an excellent guide to backing up with CrashPlan. He explains important concepts, takes you through the setup process, and covers your options in a clear and easy to understand way. He even emphasizes the importance of multi-destination backup, something that is often overlooked but is integral for a true backup plan. We think it’s a great read for everyone, but especially if you’re looking for a backup solution.

Thanks to the Reddit community for putting backup at the forefront today and thanks to our customers for trusting us to protect your digital valuables.