Should I have spare PC in case of failure

supermonkey

Hi All,

I am currently using a laptop for business use. It's quite a few years old, but it works well enough so I'm not planning on upgrading.

There is another PC in the house which used to be used for personal use, but since getting a tablet, it is rarely (if ever) switched on.

I'm considering selling it as I'd rather have the cash & to save space in the house.

But I've put off doing it as I know that if my laptop died, I could use it instead. This would reduce downtime & would also mean I that I wouldn't have to rush into replacing the laptop.

Not really sure what my question is! How does everyone else deal with this?

Airwolf1

I would just ensure that all the data I wanted was backed up to an external hard drive (I assume you don't use a server). If the laptop fails, your data is safe. If you do sell your old pc, ensure you erase the data on it - there are ways to recover personal info from it. If the other pc is old, the chances are it won't be worth much anyway...

paddyrg

Try using a service like dropbox, copy.com or Google drive (copy.com currently have a promo by the way for extra storage space, pm me if you go down that route).

If you use them to store all your documents, you can flit between computers, tablet, Mac, PC etc and the whole business is right there no matter where you are. I use those services extensively, it is extremely useful to be able to dig up an old sales forecast from your phone, or update an old pitch for an urgent bid whilst at a cafe on holiday.

That way also you can ditch the desktop machine and keep £500 cash in the company coffers in case you need an urgent laptop replacement. If you ever need to, you take the new machine straight from Curry's, get online, install copy.com/ Google drive etc and connect it to your account - it'll then go about restoring all the files you kept in that folder back to your new machine, disaster averted without even needing to remember to back up

motorguy

Get something like this for your laptop...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDCZ33-016G-B35-Cruzer-Flash-Drive/dp/B005FYNSZA/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1389254956&sr=8-16&keywords=usb+stick

Its a tiny USB drive that you can keep plugged in all the time.

Use a free product like this to copy over your important files daily to it

http://www.filehippo.com/download_herculesbackup/

Then if your laptop dies you just need to plug the memory stick in to another device.

DKLS

Airwolf1 wrote: »

I would just ensure that all the data I wanted was backed up to an external hard drive (I assume you don't use a server). If the laptop fails, your data is safe. If you do sell your old pc, ensure you erase the data on it - there are ways to recover personal info from it. If the other pc is old, the chances are it won't be worth much anyway...

After experiencing a couple of recent hard drive failures, I would go with the paranoid approach to data and back up to two external devices and to the cloud.

StuC75

Assuming the OP has broadband internet its far easier to use skydrive (or the many other similar services), I have 25gb of free cloud storage..

I have a documents folder on laptop & pc's that are constantly synched up (so changes reflect easier), with the plus chance that nothing to lose.. plus I can access any home files from anywhere...

afterall what if in your case the OP had the laptop \ bag & memory stick stolen... all data has gone then.

The OP's desktop computer may not be worth as much as you think...

motorguy wrote: »

Get something like this for your laptop...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDCZ33-016G-B35-Cruzer-Flash-Drive/dp/B005FYNSZA/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1389254956&sr=8-16&keywords=usb+stick

Its a tiny USB drive that you can keep plugged in all the time.

Use a free product like this to copy over your important files daily to it

http://www.filehippo.com/download_herculesbackup/

Then if your laptop dies you just need to plug the memory stick in to another device.

supermonkey

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I have an external hard drive & I also have an auto cloud backup/sync solution (which also synced data to the old PC but this isn't too helpful now as that PC is rarely switched on so not in sync!)

I could replicate the files from the hard drive to a new PC & then install the cloud backup/sync software which would compare the data & update the new PC with the latest files from online. This would be quicker restoring everything from the cloud.

My concern is not so much that I'd lose data, but that I'd lose time having to go out & buy a new computer, then set up the software (includes some specialist software) & then restore the data. With a spare PC, it's there waiting in the event of a disaster! I'm also concerned that in a disaster I'd have to do as suggested & get a computer from Curry's or similar whereas I'd prefer to research, decide on minimum spec & compare prices etc.

I like the memory stick as it's not bulky like my external hardrive. But I think the cloud solution covers me.

Actually, I just remembered my laptop has two internal hard drives. So I could set it up to mirror my files (I think some of the cloud backup/sync services include this option so I wouldn't have to run 2 different programs to achieve this). That would mean I could forget about the external drive.

The old PC may not be worth a huge amount. It's 3 years old & runs very well (Win 7). I'm ok with the data erasing having done it in the past.

zabi89

It all depends on if the computer is worth selling. I'm assuming it's over 3 years old since that's how old you stated your Laptop is. Take a look on ebay at the model of your computer and what they are selling for used. You would be surprised at how little they are sold for, quite sad really considering how expensive they can be to buy new!

I would keep it if it was me, but it's all up to you

Kayalana99

I think you should keep both. If one dies and it really is going to be alot of hassle to go out and buy a new one straight away and lose 'time' then that says to me you can't afford not to have a spare.

Seems quite OTT to me, but I don't know your situation.

Aquamania

supermonkey wrote: »

...Actually, I just remembered my laptop has two internal hard drives. So I could set it up to mirror my files (I think some of the cloud backup/sync services include this option so I wouldn't have to run 2 different programs to achieve this). That would mean I could forget about the external drive....

Not much use if the motherboard fails.

Aquamania

supermonkey wrote: »

Hi All,

I am currently using a laptop for business use. It's quite a few years old, but it works well enough so I'm not planning on upgrading.

There is another PC in the house which used to be used for personal use, but since getting a tablet, it is rarely (if ever) switched on.

I'm considering selling it as I'd rather have the cash & to save space in the house.

But I've put off doing it as I know that if my laptop died, I could use it instead. This would reduce downtime & would also mean I that I wouldn't have to rush into replacing the laptop.

Not really sure what my question is! How does everyone else deal with this?

How much do you think you'd get for an old PC?

If you plan to keep it as a backup, I would suggest you do use it now and again else it might not work properly come the time of an emergency
e.g. dead CMOS battery