Backing Up

superscaper

Doublespresso wrote: »

Thanks.
So if my laptop dies, does it mean that also my backup will be pretty much useless?

Images in general are only meant to be to recover to the same hardware. If you want something for a completely different computer then you can only really backup your files and settings. The operating system and applications would have to be (re)installed on a new computer. But I wouldn't rely on only imaging for backup anyway.

amcluesent

So I have Vista Business and used the supplied software to do a full backup to USB disk. Has anyone confirmed this is OK?

On previous PC I've always used Acronis booted from CD-ROM - I've never been convinced that backing up a running Windows machine is good idea...:eek:

C_Ronaldo

So if i were to buy an external hard drive could i back up whats currently on my 2 hard drives

charlieheard

Great article - I've only just come across it, but it seems to have covered every option I've thought of or investigated in the past few years, and several I haven't.

superscaper wrote: »

Online/Offsite

This is more extravagant and for the really paranoid “what if my house burns down” types. The cheap alternative to this is simply burn to disc as above and give the discs to relatives to keep in their houses. There are some free and subscription online services that may come with programs to automatically keep a copy of your data updated. Remember that one limitation is the speed of your upload and your bandwidth limit. I have used Mozy and Carbonite and each took days just to backup My Documents alone, not a method for imaging your entire drive really.

Just a few thoughts about backing up to these sites - most of them cost in the region of $/€5 a month for large/unlimited storage, but many of them also have a smaller, free option. For instance, I use Mozy's free 2Gb storage, which only took a couple of hours for the first backup on 1Meg broadband. This is enough for system files, emails and key documents, but not for my large numbers of pictures, MP3 or videos, so I am looking at my options for larger storage. I am interested in jungledisk, but there you pay by the Gb (storage and traffic).

Many sites only back up changed documents, while keeping the other, older documents. This means that later backups are much quicker - my Mozy backup is less than an hour overnight, and most of that size is due to having a single huge email file so that I can use the free version of my chosen desktop search program (X1).

A final point is that many sites allow you to view the files stored online. Mozy only allows it from two computers per license, but jungledisk allows it from any PC with their software, which can be run from a USB memory stick. This is very useful if you're using a variety of PCs, as you only need to take their software with you, and leave the files on the Amazon S3 servers. You have in effect a huge USB disk.

Edited for clarity & accuracy

Clare11

Hi everyone

I bought a 2.5 inch 80 GB hard drive on ebay for £29 which seemed a bargain to me. However the accompanying "ONE touch back up software" and leaflets were certainly not "user friendly".
I later read in the feedback of this item that other buyers made the same comment.
I just wished I had read this before purchasing the item.

However I got the HD "up and running" on my desktop PC but like I said before the "one touch back up software" was impossible for me to install.
I am a lady of a "certain age"....smiles.

I buy Computer Active magazine regularly and by chance I found the following was recommended in the Q & A Section, by someone who used a notebook. He said it was excellent for backing up his files etc.

http://free-backup.info/back2zip.html

Well...I thought I would try it on my PC and I must admit it is working a treat.
Its so so simple to install and doing all that I want it to do.
I just wanted to backup some documents, photos and videos........all my precious memories.
I dont care if the computer "blows up" as long as these items are safe.

It just runs "quietly in the background" and is so easy to customise.

I have it set to backup every 20 mins which is the mininum default.

I dont even notice it making the backup!


What is your opinion on this little program?

I thought others might find it useful

Kind regards
Clare

PROLIANT

And the moral of this story is....

Mike54_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

And the moral of this story is....

You may find out soon.

jje_2

I use Acronis True Image to back up a full working image to a spare drive and a second partition on desktop pc . Likewise on laptop i add a partition and make a full image .
Recover from most major software errors takes less than half an hour .

jje

PROLIANT

Mike54 wrote: »

You may find out soon.

Maybe not, I have a raided server and differential backup routine that i run daily.
:T

Ben_Doone

PROLIANT wrote: »

And the moral of this story is....

If you are not a computer geek then you are knackered.