Would you use PC World?

Clearways

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

emails on a server will more than likely mean they use webmail rather than Outlook or another mail program.

Before you go spending money on a memory stick do you have any of the following.
Digital camera that uses memory cards?
mobile phone with a memory card?
MP3 player?

all can be used as storage devices if you have enough space on them.

That's why I asked the question.

I do not use any email program... just keep my emails in my server.

Sounds intriguing.. maybe as you say OWA web type access

Good point re memory cards if as you say they are big enough and can be accessed from the PC..

Either way as USB key is a good way nowadays of transferring data.

Maybe if the data is small .zip it up and email it you yourself ?? Then it will sit on your email server.. ? Most like say gmail, yahoo etc provide loads of storage..

BritBrat

What you need to do is get in a routine for backing up important data somewhere off the harddrive.

To wait untill the hardrive is full is to late and the amount you need to backup it very large and an almost impossible job.

My advice is get a USB extrenal drive and make a Norton ghost image of your "C" drive to it and that way you have a copy of everything.

Then format the drive and reinstall either from a factory restore disk or using a OS disk, then as and when you need an old file restored you get it from the ghosted image using ghost exployer.

Then in the future save backups to the same external drive as and when you store any data.

Clearways

Well made points, A good idea if you have Ghost, and the skills to do so..
Another useful one for less PC expert users is auto backup to the Internet.

Many companies offer this and it can be a simple and easy option.

After all IMHO you shouldn't have to be a PC expert to use a PC.:rolleyes:

scheming_gypsy

i usually write a simple batch file for backing up. Can't remember the exact string but it's usually something like xcopy c:\documents and setting\username\my documents *external drive letter* /* /* /* with the /'s representing the right commands to copy sub folders, overwrite files and not to prompt when overwriting. Obviously you need to store everything you need backing up in the My Documents folder.
I just run the batch file and let it copy, then just check properties on both locations to make sure the external drive has the same or more data than the My Documents.

Ghost is a good tool to use but the one problem i have with it is that is if you use it often to create an image of your drive you also run the risk of backing up any problems that haven't materialised just yet and possibly leaving you in the same situation a bit further down the line.

BritBrat

Many people hate Norton but Ghost is a must have piece of software.

Ghost is a good tool to use but the one problem i have with it is that is if you use it often to create an image of your drive you also run the risk of backing up any problems that haven't materialised just yet and possibly leaving you in the same situation a bit further down the line.

The version I am using does incremental backups so you can go back to any date.

"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery Desktop Edition"

scheming_gypsy wrote:

Down with the signature police.

Have they deleted yours too?

I had to restore mine this week, hense the "Not all blue text is a link! "

Clearways

i usually write a simple batch file for backing up. Can't remember the exact string but it's usually something like xcopy c:\documents and setting\username\my documents *external drive letter* /* /* /*

Or even the freeby Robocopy - excellent prog very flexible..

BritBrat

Genie backup manager is another good tool I use daily.

scheming_gypsy

i'm an old school engineer... lol!
Only 32 but been employed in IT since i was 16 and using DOS 6.2 with Windows 3.11. I find it easier to just pop a batch file together than mess about with these new fangled programs, lol. I sound like my grandad.

I always get my sig deleted. Last one was telling people to hit the snitch button if they didn't like my post, so they hit it about my sig.

Nikiya

Well, I have an email address... that is what I mean by server. I do not use Outlook because we never managed to make it work, so my messages, email addresses, etc, are there.
As for copying my data to CDs, well, that is what I started saying... I bought the CDs (Packard Bell CD-RW 12x speed 700 Mb capacity) and never managed to copy anything onto them. Which program do I need and how do I do it? I have not tried for some time, but when I did try it would not work (I also tried the health test recommended above and came, as you can see, to a dead end)....

Nikiya

Well, I had not seen the second page when I wrote my previous message:

BritBrat wrote: »

What you need to do is get in a routine for backing up important data somewhere off the harddrive.

To wait untill the hardrive is full is to late and the amount you need to backup it very large and an almost impossible job.

My advice is get a USB extrenal drive and make a Norton ghost image of your "C" drive to it and that way you have a copy of everything.

Then format the drive and reinstall either from a factory restore disk or using a OS disk, then as and when you need an old file restored you get it from the ghosted image using ghost exployer.

Then in the future save backups to the same external drive as and when you store any data.

I could not agree more, but the fact is I have tried to do backup for quite some time without any success.... yes, we do have a digital camera, but it seems to be always full just with pictures...
That "Ghost" for saving data outside the PC sounds good. Is it something you buy or download? Please bear in mind most of the terminology you are using here is Chinese to me.....