How often do you back up?

hostertlady

i have no idea where to start!! i thought i was 'backing up' when i pressed 'save'

what would be the best to do for a first timer backing up?? easy please and do i ahve to pay?

superscaper

hostertlady wrote: »

i have no idea where to start!! i thought i was 'backing up' when i pressed 'save'

what would be the best to do for a first timer backing up?? easy please and do i ahve to pay?

Presumably you haven't actually read this thread. I suggest you do so, there's more than enough info on the subject. Backing up is so you can recover anything. If your PC was stolen right this second or the hard drive was destroyed beyond repair or recovery, would you have lost any data you wanted to keep? If the answer is yes then you haven't backed up. Backing up means saving it NOT on the PC and having more than one copy. It isn't particularly technical, it's just common sense, I'm sure you've heard the phrase "don't put all your eggs in one basket".

hostertlady

actually i have read the thread!! my question was that i didnt understand nearly all of it- i have no idea what some of them were talking about that is why i asked for help.......

superscaper

What do you have to enable you to backup? CD Writer? DVD Writer? They'd be the easiest and I'd consider the first line of backup. I personally use Nero to back up files to optical disc but XP onwards has inbuilt burning software. You could also buy an external hard drive and copy files or make an exact image of your hard drive with software such as Acronis True Image. A third option (which should be used in addition to other backup methods) is online backup. I personally use Mozy.com which costs about $4ish/month.

pash_2

hi I have never actually been on this page of MSE before and was wondering can any kind person PM me to tell me exactly how to back up my pc... an idiot guide please if you will. many thanks
Pash xxx

byyp

i regularly do scan,system registry fixing,defragmentation and all other computer caring procedures..but truly speaking i never do back-up..may be am taking my system for granted or may be i am just lazy to do that..but thank God i have never faced any difficulty with my hard drive till now..:D

sandy2_2

hostertlady wrote: »

i have no idea where to start!! i thought i was 'backing up' when i pressed 'save'

what would be the best to do for a first timer backing up?? easy please and do i ahve to pay?

Like hosterlady, I have no idea about restore or back up. Having read this thread thro, it was like another language, and I and probably others are still clueless (and no doubt we're the ones who need to know about and do this)....acronis, nero, external hard drives, partitions, registry etc. I'm one of those simple souls who just wants to press a button and have everything working

Does back up mean just copy and paste to cds or DVDs....(I can imagine this could be quite time consuming) and then keep disk in another location just incase laptop gets stolen How long is it safe to keep the disks, I have read some stuff about them degrading over time, would one of those pen drive thingies be better. Could some stuff be 'zipped', I think this condenses data to take up less room

What's this about backing up programs, what easy simple way is there please

As 'backing up' is obviously something we should be doing, please can some kind peson give us less computer literate folk some basic instructions in words of one syllable and not go off on some techie speak ramble

Thanks

pash_2

ditto what Sandy2 said!
idiots guide please..... pretty please!
Pash xxx

wherediditallgo

ditto from me too. I've heard of some of the products/manufactuers, but I don't know the best way to go about it (especially with loads of the posts in this thread still missing) - flash drive or external drive, complete copy of the drive or just selected parts, weekly or monthly? I'm one of those learning about backing up after a system crash & losing loads of info :mad: , so I'd like to get it right from now on. Thanks.

superscaper

wherediditallgo wrote: »

ditto from me too. I've heard of some of the products/manufactuers, but I don't know the best way to go about it (especially with loads of the posts in this thread still missing) - flash drive or external drive, complete copy of the drive or just selected parts, weekly or monthly? I'm one of those learning about backing up after a system crash & losing loads of info :mad: , so I'd like to get it right from now on. Thanks.

Here's my answer http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=597170