Back up of data

*Scarlett

I think my lap top is on it's last legs (8 years old) but still working after a bit of encouragement!

Sorry if this seems extremely thick but I have never backed up anything on it. I'm mostly thinking about photos, personal docs.

If I were to get a new laptop would everything be lost? Or can it be transferred?

closed

They are rarely on their last legs

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

portable usb hard disks are £40, blank dvd's are 10p, usb hard disk caddies are about £3. Do not move your data to another place, copy it.

If you are worried about losing data, which can happen at any time, backup now.

if you do buy a new machine, nothing will be lost, provided your internal hard disk is still working and doesn't get infected with a data damaging worm. Data transfer can be done with a usb caddy, or one of the other methods above.

*Scarlett

Cheers closed.

Although that link was a bit baffling for now I have saved it.

I was just a bit worried about losing family photos if this laptop gives up the ghost and breaks down.

closed

follow step one, post hijackthis log, commit charge, physical memory total, it takes about 60 seconds.

a hard disk can fail at any time, taking your photo's with it - they need to be in at least 2 different places.

John259

Backup ASAP. There are several methods and it's wise to use at least two. For example:

Buy one or more USB memory sticks and copy the relevant files to them. It's best to use several sticks in rotation.

Buy an external hard disk and copy the relevant files to it. You can make several copies but of course if the disc fails you'll probably lose them all.

If the computer has a CD or DVD writer drive, copy the files to one of those discs. If the computer hasn't got such a drive, you could buy an external one. Again, it's best to use several discs in rotation. Provided you are careful with the discs they will last years but on the hand they can be easily damaged.

Back up to one of the online "cloud" systems such as Google Drive. If you're on a slow connection and have a lot of data to copy then it will take a long time but if the files are all in a small number of folders then the process can be started and left to complete by itself.

If you add more files regularly, do more backups regularly.

*Scarlett

Gawd I was a bit concerned - but you 2 have made me paranoid\!

John259

*Scarlett wrote: »

Gawd I was a bit concerned - but you 2 have made me paranoid\!

Good - paranoid is healthy - there are so many things that can go wrong - thunderstorms, user errors, components failing, viruses, you name it...

azzabazza

I have two external back-up drives. I back-up once a week using alternate drives. Any important documents/downloads are backed up immediately.

tafelmoneysaver

The best back-up strategy I have heard of is "3-2-1":

3 copies
2 types of media (e.g. 1 hard-disk* and 1 USB memory stick or a DVD)
1 off-site


* this does not include the hard-disk inside the PC!

RumRat

*Scarlett wrote: »

Gawd I was a bit concerned - but you 2 have made me paranoid\!

No need for Paranoia. You can back up your pictures to something like Flickr or Google once set up it can be automatic.
Buy a USB drive and back up your important stuff to that. If you want to be extra sure do an extra back up to the cloud.
Some people like to do more, it's not for me to say if that's paranoid or not. I back up to a NAS a USB hardrive and the Cloud. But, I've never heard of anyone losing both their main hard drive and a back up drive at the same time, so, maybe I've over done it...:D

debitcardmayhem

RumRat wrote: »

No need for Paranoia. You can back up your pictures to something like Flickr or Google once set up it can be automatic.
Buy a USB drive and back up your important stuff to that. If you want to be extra sure do an extra back up to the cloud.
Some people like to do more, it's not for me to say if that's paranoid or not. I back up to a NAS a USB hardrive and the Cloud. But, I've never heard of anyone losing both their main hard drive and a back up drive at the same time, so, maybe I've over done it...:D

Never been flooded then.....Just make matters worse the flood could cause a fire which results in an explosion due to a gas leak :eek: Call me a born pessimist :cool: