Posted: 6/29/2012 7:14:31 PM EDT
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Hello all,
I was just scanning the wife and my most recent life insurance bill which has most of the info we need short of scanning the whole policy (which will be done the next time I go through the filing cabinet). I was wondering which format is best for scanning documents that will go onto a portable hard drive or portable USB just in case something should happen and we had to leave in a hurry and could only grab a few things. Seeing all this fire coverage on CNN has really got me thinking about this possibility. I guess I should use this motivation to get an important part of my preps in order that I was lax on previously. So... The document package... I will save a copy to two portable hard drives we have and I am going to get an encrypted USB drive from amazon "Ironkey". Very cool, very durable, very protected, and just a little $$. Ok, back to my question. I have all the things that I previously scanned in jpeg form since I was using a HP all in one scanner. There was the .pdf option, but since I started in jpeg, I just kept right on doing that way. Plus there was a little viewable preview pictures for each file that showed as the icon instead of the boring adobe/.pdf icon. But after wondering about this further, I wonder if I should have went with the standard .pdf route. The ironkey USB comes preloaded with adobe reader for opening pdf's, and I guess I could just add an adobe pdf program installer on my portable hard drives just in case what ever computer I try to open these on doesn't have adobe. That seems to not really be likely. Most computers and some smart phones can open pdf's, So what do you think? Thanks |
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Just a few points...
PDF: Allows for multiple pages in one file Will open one pretty much any computer or smart phone Usually has a smaller footprint Password protected for added layer of security Most people don't have the software to edit PDF files. JPG: Can be edited in Paint One page per file Usually larger footprint File size can be reduced to lower quality Can be opened on pretty much any electronic device with a screen. ETA: Don't forget to take a look at TrueCrypt |
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I save birth certs, diplomas, drivers license, passports, etc as jpeg. Documents get saved as pdf.
I put all the stuff on three 8GB flash drives using truecrypt. I printed instructions to use truecrypt for my wife and left a clue to the password then everything went into an envelope. One copy is stored with all the critical documents in a fire safe. One copy is stored in the filing cabinet. One copy is stored in my parent's fire safe. |
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insin, IT guy here  We have a good scanner at work, so I use it to scan everything into PDF's. I always figured if the world has gone to shit to the point I cant find a machine w/ adobe reader then the docs are probably of little value. Mine are really for an offsite backup, grab and go copy in case the house is on fire, etc. Not necessarily end of the world kind of stuff. Now, I don't use IronKey (which I'm unfamiliar with), I use TrueCrypt with the main container on my laptop. With the container as just a file (you can do a USB stick, SD card, even your OS boot drive) I can copy it anywhere without being limited to a memory stick. Hypothetically I could have a copy on my wife's machine, my phone, a server at the office (that gets backed up to offsite tape). You could ever write a boot script for your PC to sync it to these devices 90 seconds after booting if any of them are connected / on net. That way you only have one container to manage, and the copies happen automatically. If you happened to call your container file "Return of the Jedi.mp4" and stuffed it into your My Video's folder, then to anyone else it looks like just a corrupt movie file. It's also free, and runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. The encryption is as good as anything out there, and it's open source, so if there were back doors they'd likely be found. Now, maybe NSA is going to crack it (but maybe not), but the average prick who steals your laptop never will. Sorry for the tangent off of your original question, but if you haven't bought the gizmo off of amazon yet, maybe give this a try first and see what you think... -Slice |
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All of this. Truecrypt is free and the program can be placed on a USB stick OUTSIDE of the container but still ready to run by just having the USB key. I don't know about the rest of yall, but my password is a 'phrase'....45 characters with a few numbers, caps, and punctuation added in-I am hoping no one shy of the NSA could break it. They already know all my secrets anyways [/tinfoil]
Once you make the container, put a copy on everything with RAM on it, (phones, laptops, work computers) and make a few spare to leave with friends or relatives. In the event of an emergency, this would be very handy to have ALL of your personal info on hand and easily portable. Quoted:
insin, IT guy here
We have a good scanner at work, so I use it to scan everything into PDF's. I always figured if the world has gone to shit to the point I cant find a machine w/ adobe reader then the docs are probably of little value. Mine are really for an offsite backup, grab and go copy in case the house is on fire, etc. Not necessarily end of the world kind of stuff. Now, I don't use IronKey (which I'm unfamiliar with), I use TrueCrypt with the main container on my laptop. With the container as just a file (you can do a USB stick, SD card, even your OS boot drive) I can copy it anywhere without being limited to a memory stick. Hypothetically I could have a copy on my wife's machine, my phone, a server at the office (that gets backed up to offsite tape). You could ever write a boot script for your PC to sync it to these devices 90 seconds after booting if any of them are connected / on net. That way you only have one container to manage, and the copies happen automatically. If you happened to call your container file "Return of the Jedi.mp4" and stuffed it into your My Video's folder, then to anyone else it looks like just a corrupt movie file. It's also free, and runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. The encryption is as good as anything out there, and it's open source, so if there were back doors they'd likely be found. Now, maybe NSA is going to crack it (but maybe not), but the average prick who steals your laptop never will. Sorry for the tangent off of your original question, but if you haven't bought the gizmo off of amazon yet, maybe give this a try first and see what you think... -Slice |