Advice wanted on backing up hard drive

JoeA81

Sounds like just what Im after, Cheers Aiadi

oldagetraveller

richyrichuk - thanks for that Microsoft link. I've been backing up important stuff, pictures, music etc., manually to an external hard drive. Didn't even know that XP Home extra was available.:o
Just completed a documents and settings backup after installing software from XP cd and it went flawlessly.:D
A question though which isn't made clear, do you know if the next scheduled or otherwise backup just overwrites the previous with any extra added or is another full backup carried out and the previous has to be deleted manually?

richyrichuk

oldagetraveller wrote: »

richyrichuk - thanks for that Microsoft link. I've been backing up important stuff, pictures, music etc., manually to an external hard drive. Didn't even know that XP Home extra was available.:o
Just completed a documents and settings backup after installing software from XP cd and it went flawlessly.:D
A question though which isn't made clear, do you know if the next scheduled or otherwise backup just overwrites the previous with any extra added or is another full backup carried out and the previous has to be deleted manually?

well now ukno u can use backup utility in xp home :rolleyes:

there is an option within advanced options to set how to back it up IE overwrite etc..

albertross_2

Two examples of why you should use DVD+-R's for your important pictures/music etc.

http://www.securityworld.com/ia-420-love-bug-virus.aspx

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/22/nopiracy_worm/

Disk imaging programs also save windows and programs, and make restoring from a dead HD a breeze.

richyrichuk

albertross wrote: »

Two examples of why you should use DVD+-R's for your important pictures/music etc.

http://www.securityworld.com/ia-420-love-bug-virus.aspx

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/22/nopiracy_worm/

Disk imaging programs also save windows and programs, and make restoring from a dead HD a breeze.

both of them links are out of date, as the virus's are years old virtually. so that anit a problem.

with hard drive restore programs it can get very messy and use up double your harddisk space. they can be useful. but not very worth while in the long run, due to just so many complications

albertross_2

the date on the links is irrrelevant, it is the principal, if you backup to a permanently attached hard disk or usb key, and a worm comes along that wipes out photo's/doc/music/whatever, then your master and your backup will go at the same time, and all that effort of backing up would have been pointless. usb keys in particular, are pretty ropey, it has limited writes, and pull it out too fast, and it may corrupt.

disk imaging uses a bit more space, maybe one extra DVD, 20p, but when you try and boot up windows one day, and it blue screens or says primary HD not found, you will be thankful you did it, especially if you don't have an XP CD to hand, and don't want to spend 2 days putting all you software back on and reconfiguring it.

ghosting/acronising/driveimagexmling to DVD covers all possible failure scenarious .

richyrichuk

albertross wrote: »

the date on the links is irrrelevant, it is the principal, if you backup to a permanently attached hard disk or usb key, and a worm comes along that wipes out photo's/doc/music/whatever, then your master and your backup will go at the same time, and all that effort of backing up would have been pointless. usb keys in particular, are pretty ropey, it has limited writes, and pull it out too fast, and it may corrupt.

disk imaging uses a bit more space, maybe one extra DVD, 20p, but when you try and boot up windows one day, and it blue screens or says primary HD not found, you will be thankful you did it, especially if you don't have an XP CD to hand, and don't want to spend 2 days putting all you software back on and reconfiguring it.

ghosting/acronising/driveimagexmling to DVD covers all possible failure scenarious .

ok i see your point. but if u eject a CD half way through writing u get the same problem...

and all im saying is using image backup software can get very messy with partitions etc...