[quote name='shrike4242']With the only other backup being a chance on a "all files from all PC's backup" from a few years ago, he didn't plan on anything more than one copy of the data in question.
If it was archival for final archival backup, it needed to be on at least a couple of CD's, and not crappy cheap-ass CD's. Tape backup as well.[/quote]
So a couple of things.
a) We found the data on a second CD that the other guy had kept a copy of for his personal files.
b) It was never insisted that only 1 copy be made. In fact, from my understanding, it was requested that 2 copies be made, plus the originals left on the HDD. The originals somehow got deleted (probably by this other person who needed the space for other new data). One copy (the copy that we had) was lost to degradation of the CD. The last copy was his and luckily the data was still on it (even though it was the same CD type). And the back-up that the boss has on his home external HDD pre-dates this data so it wouldn't have been there.
We've now recopied it onto the HDD, put another copy on our backup external HDD, and copied it to 2 new DVD's (actual good DVD's, not this no name crap). We don't have tape back-ups available and he doesn't feel the data is THAT important that he would go out and get it. Once the paper is published that relies on that data, he can pretty much just make a hard copy and be done with it. In any case, all is good in Warner world again. Now to get back to Phoenix Wright.