Back up - help please - what do I select ?

alison74

I have just looked through the 'how often do you back up thread' and my head hurts trying to figure it out

I have nero back it up on my screen and it is asking what I want backed up.

What is the most important stuff to back up ?

Just my photos, video clips, documents etc ?

My whole itune music collection (to save me having to load them all to the comp again ?)

Do you need to add all the PROGRAM FILES, WINDOWS etc ?

My system restore activates every day and after mucking a couple of programmes up over the last couple of the months restored to that point.


Is system restore enough ?

i am so confused

Any help would be appreciated - thanks in advance

Chippy_Minton

Backing up the following folders in C:\Documents and Settings\<YourLoginName> is usually sufficient:

My Documents - includes documents, music, pictures, videos etc., unless you've saved them elsewhere.
Desktop - some people save documents etc. here.
Favorites - for Internet Explorer. If you use another browser find where it stores its favourites.

It's also a good idea to backup your emails; if you use Outlook Express, find the location of the Store Folder and backup this (or search for *.dbx files).

I wouldn't bother backing up Windows or Program Files because these should be on CDs or from downloaded files which you'll need to reinstall anyway if your PC dies. You could backup downloaded files to save having to download them again though.

alison74

I have a split hard drive. C: has my documents etc and (80gb) has music, photos etc.

I wouldn't have though about saving favourites, so thanks for that.

Windows and programme files - they will be on my original disc ?

So when I select all of these, it comes to about 24gb, will it just ask me to keep on inserting dvd's to store them on ?

Chippy_Minton

Yes, Nero will prompt you to insert another DVD when one fills up. However I'd do them all as separate backups because it's easier to manage:

1. Backup My Documents on as many DVDs as required.
2. Backup Music as a separate backup job on as many DVDs as required.
3. Backup Photos as a separate backup etc...