Back up problem

Susan1942

I do not have my things backed up Using Norton 360 The other day a message came up asking me to do so I clicked on to it but it came up saying that I did not have enough space and gave me several options I was a long way short of space
I tried as suggested getting rid of some things but was unsure of what to do so decided to leave things as they were
I now have that part showing on red I don't know how to get rid of the red part Previously when it told me it was not backed up I just answered no when it asked if I wished to do this How do I now get rid of this I am unsure why I show back up things I Dont have to back everything up but perhaps I should have my photo's Can I just transfer the photo's to another disc to avoid losing them I am not really all that savvy Would appreciate some advice on this
Thanks Sue

Belenus

It sounds as if you are trying to back up the contents of your disk to the same disk. That isn't really backing up as, if that disk fails, you have lost the originals and the copies.

You need to have an external disk or some other device such as DVDs, CDs etc to which you copy all your data. or at least the data that is irreplaceable and you cannot afford to lose'

Google "how to back up my computer" and have a read about your options.

Susan1942

Thank you so much for your reply I got the problem sorted out with the red back up alert with remote control from Norton so I can now access the Norton page so that I can scan it it is not backed up but not worried about that
How would I copy my photos to another CD I don't have anything other than just a few music CD's that would be a problem if I lost them
There are several different lots of p hoto's marked by the month and year Also some old photo's which I do have but scanned to my computer I know how to put a CD on to the laptop before and have burned it back to another CD but other than that I have no idea how to get the photo's on to a CD I would be pleased if someone could advise me
Thanks you so much
Sue

dogmaryxx

I have no idea how to get the photo's on to a CD

DVD holds more.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-copy-photos-to-a-cd-or-dvd-using-windows-7s.html

Belenus

Susan1942 wrote: »

.....How would I copy my photos to another CD I don't have anything other than just a few music CD's that would be a problem if I lost them
There are several different lots of p hoto's marked by the month and year Also some old photo's which I do have but scanned to my computer I know how to put a CD on to the laptop before and have burned it back to another CD but other than that I have no idea how to get the photo's on to a CD I would be pleased if someone could advise me
Thanks you so much
Sue

Are you certain that the only thing you need to back up is photos? Don't you have any letters or other documents etc?

Anyway, no matter.

The simplest way to back up a small number of photos or data is probably to CD or DVD. All you do is copy and paste the folders containing the photos from the PC to the CD/DVD. Make multiple copies so that you end up with a minimum of the originals on the PC and two copies on CD/DVD.

Or you could buy a small capacity external USB disk quite cheaply and use that. Flash drives is another possibilty but they are not really reliable enough.

If you know where to find the photos on your PC and understand the file structure then all that is easy. If you don't then you are going to need to learn about it. It is quite simple and straightforward so don't be daunted.

Strider590

Less than £50 will get you a 1TB external hard drive, I cannot recommend having one of these enough (I have 3 of them).
My GF is having one bundled in with her xmas presents, because she worries me sick by keeping all her photos on a USB memory stick (and not even a decent branded one).

I'm not sure than Norton is the best way to do backups, I mean what does it ACTUALLY back up? All you really need to do is back up specific file folders which contain your valuable data.

Belenus

Strider is right about getting an external drive and the unreliability of memory sticks, although I would suggest a smaller capacity and cheaper drive than 1tb as that is pretty big for just a few photos.

He is also right about Norton. All you need to do is organise your files on your PC in a logical manner in one master folder and back that up regularly.

For example, on my PC I created a master folder called 0 Data in Computer / Local Disk.

I used a leading 0 as that means it is always the top folder when I open up Local Disk but you can call it whatever suits you.

I then created sub folders within 0 Data called Insurance, Music, Pictures, Sport etc. I store everything in 0 Data and back it up to external disks regularly using copy and paste.

I always have at least three full backups on seperate external disks so I am covered even if my PC fails and one or two of the external disks fails. That is possibly overkill but I value my irreplaceable data too much to take risks with it. My backing up only takes a few seconds to set up and then runs itself in the background. Plug in external drive, create a folder on it called Backup 5 Dec 2014, copy 0 Data and paste into Backup 5 Dec 2014.

I also do incremental backups but I won't complicate matters by going into that now.

Knarf44

Just a polite reminder that external usb harddisks can also fail without warning so again shouldn't be relied on as the only backup means. With the abundance of free cloud storage available nowadays it's a good idea to utilize that as much as possible too alongside external hard disks, dvds and pen drives.

Strider590

Knarf44 wrote: »

Just a polite reminder that external usb harddisks can also fail without warning so again shouldn't be relied on as the only backup means. With the abundance of free cloud storage available nowadays it's a good idea to utilize that as much as possible too alongside external hard disks, dvds and pen drives.

The likelihood of the external and internal drive failing at the same time have to be worse than winning the lotto.

Knarf44

Strider590 wrote: »

The likelihood of the external and internal drive failing at the same time have to be worse than winning the lotto.

Probably, but it can happen.

I've known it happen at least twice, both times the external usb drive was less than a week old. One was a WD drive and the other a Toshiba one and both had come from a reputable online supplier. Luckily for the customers most of their data was recovered and the drives replaced under warranty.

My point was simply always plan for the unexpected.

Susan1942

Thank you all so much for all the information I will need to study it to work out how to do it I don't have much in the way of letters etc but my bills like electricity phone etc are documents on there
I am going to print all the info you have given me so that I can follow it more closely
I am not very savvy but will try to work out how to do this My photos are the thing I worry most about losing as I have 5 Grandchildren etc also some old family photos Some of the older ones are on my desktop which I don't use much these days but the photo's on there all mostly all the old ones I have got them and scanned them so I could share them with other members of my family online We are a big family but scattered ie Australie US etc
Again many thanks to everyone Sue