best /cheapest way to back up ?

macma

I feel I should safeguard my photos etc but I'm not sure of the best cheapest way to back up.Do I need a hard drive or what ?I'm very non techie so understand very little Help.....:)

neilwoods

Cheapest way is to use an online photo storage. Photobucket or maybe Windows live SkyDrive. the SkyDrive looks pretty good. Not sure how long they would stay there for though.

Maybe even some external hard drives or Pen drives

closed

A 10p blank dvd holds 4.7GB of photo's or data.

plus

Drive image to external hard disk is the best way to backup a pc/laptop including windows, it also gives you a second backup of your photo's should the dvd get damaged or become unreadable in future.

Vaila

get some dvds/cds from poundland

macma

thanks folks I got some cds,I tried dvds but they wouldn't work.

closed

Assuming you have a DVD writer, you may need to use burning software to write to dvd's

http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/infrarecorder_portable

JasX

I'll echo the above and a combination should see you fine.

-online is OK, cheapest and can work out so long as you have an uncapped connection to upload ALL your stuff on, downside is its outside your control
http://www.pcworld.com/article/173470/microsoft_redfaced_after_massive_sidekick_data_loss.html

-DVDs are cheap and reliable but limit how frequently you can backup if you don't want to end up with huge piles of the things. Make sure you store them appropriately to prevent them being damaged and some can be susceptable to degrading over a period of years (ie don;t put them in the loft and completly forget about them as in 10 years they might not be OK)

-Hard disk is flexible and generally reliable (ie can break if dropped) can be picked up at various places online or for a cheaper option if you have an old laptop(ideally) or PC or spare hard drive somewhere you can get a 2.5" or 3.5" disk caddy for about £10 and pop it in that.

Hammyman

In addition to the above, memory sticks are pretty robust and long lasting.

jayme1

one major problem with DVDs is that they can degrade in under 2 years so should not be considered a long term backup solution

if you have windows 7 the best way is to use an external hard drive and then set up an automatic backup (type in backup in the start menu) you select the folders you want to backup and then everyday it will backup those folders. this is a good how to for this method http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1838/using-backup-and-restore-in-windows-7/

another way is to install windows live mesh sign in with your windows live ID (hotmail email) then right click the folders you want to backup and select sync with live mesh, this gives you 5GB of online backup storagethat will keep in sync with your computer, you can then also upload photo albums yourself to the live skydrive that gives your 25GB space. read this about live mesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Live_Mesh

for the best security use both the windows 7 backup to an external drive and the live mesh syncing

dkhazenirad

I use a great device called dropbox, a virtual drive on the net and there are others like them. this one lets you store a couple of GB on a remote server with some intstalled server. you can always purchase more. Then again DVD's are cheap like previously mentioned.

Markyt

I zip photos and mail them to myself, using a web based email account. they are there forever then.