Emergency Backup

[moonwitch]

It started as a memory aid for me (the writing down bit) Telling others where to find the info came when jeweleffects ended up in hospital unexpectedly. I acted on the warning

Same here....that was a really scary time and definitely served as a wake up call for me.

My son has all my account passwords

[burgyeb]

This is an excellent thread with very helpful advise. Have given these things much thought, and in the process of pulling the details together. So many details, so many directions to bring together. But it is worth the effort, as loved ones can navigate with less stress.

[hurryb4itsgone]

In addition to a list of passwords and accounts, you may want to consider a "to do" check list, i.e. pay this ..., check that site for sales, activate holiday notice, feed the dog ... etc.

If something happens to you it's also a stressful time for you family and friends. They may not be thinking as clearly as they usually do.

My adage ... hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. May we never need these preparations. But if they are needed, family will be very thankful we did them.

[ButtonJohnLuke]

There was a bit of a close call in 2008 when I had a very serious reaction to after-op morphine. Once recovered it made me think about this sort of thing and how my internet presence could have been be cleanly disposed of.

I now have an Excel spreadsheet with links to all sites I've 'signed up to' or places of some importance that may need dealing with if I was suddenly incapacitated. Some are mundane, like Asda & Tesco etc - but others are not so such as online purchase and sales sites, Google checkout, PayPal, bank accounts, insurances etc).

The spreadsheet shows what details are needed to gain full access and have a marker to denote importance. It also includes my OH's sites and passwords as he's not the world's best with such things. The spreadsheet itself is passworded so as long as he can find or remember the simple key to it he should be OK. My problem is explaining it all in a way he can get his head round. On the plus side, it's made me skinny-down the number of web sites I have active interest in / membership of and that itself has come as a pleasant relief.

Wills are sorted and we have full ongoing access to each other's bank accounts anyway with a signed 'thingy' held at our bank to that effect. But if we were both suddenly incapacitated then we'd be stuffed. No kids or close rellies to call on. However, if we were both in that state then I think online life would be the least of our worries!

I wonder some enterprising financial or similar institution hasn't offered a 'fail-safe' service to cover such eventualities.

[moonwitch]

I now have an Excel spreadsheet with links to all sites I've 'signed up to' or places of some importance that may need dealing with if I was suddenly incapacitated.

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I used to have an Excel spreadsheet for that but I switched on my pooter one day to find that it had vanished along with all my business accounts and family photos I had stored with Windows.

I now have all my photos on snapagogo and need to sort another way of storing site info...this time on ubuntu

[ButtonJohnLuke]

Moony - everything gets backed up to two external HDDs every couple of days. I learned the hard way when the single external HDD I used for all data (I kept none on C drive) decided to burn out without warning. Was quoted silly money by 'professional' data restorers but *had* to get the data back as it included a huge membership data base for a charity.

To their great credit, PC World agreed to have a go and salvaged everything for the grand sum of £25 plus the cost of a Western Digital passport drive. Worth every penny. Now trust to the C drive, the WD Passport for current and a WD 1TB HDD for the current plus 2 back. Really old or less important stuff gets archived to CD's but I even make 2 copies of those.

I sometimes yearn for the days before we had all this stuff as almost a matter of course.

[Tropical_Trish]

Wow - I'm glad that I have read all this - I'm going to sort myself out asap.
I do all the banking/bill paying online, and I have a notebook stuffed full of passwords/security questions etc. for every online site I have ever joined. (That's a lot!)
Of course - I understand it all, but should anything happen to me, I'm pretty sure no-one else would know where to start.
This thread has got me worried - I had better prepare a new, up-to-date list of important passwords, and also a reminder to check that bills that are not automatically stopped by D/D are paid on time.

Thanks for the heads up OP and all subscribers with valuable info!

[CopperLocker]

Wow, there are some great post. I'm very glad that you all joined in. I even got a few extra details that I left out. See how great it is when minds get together on a common thread and can come up with some great ideas. Thanks again for joining in!