Creating a System Back up Disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eileen Pick
  • Start date Start date
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Eileen Pick

1. I tried to a compete backup for recovery purposes and
found that I have run out of discs. (I have 9 and all are
now full).

Question: I stopped the process and now want to restart.
Will the backup carry on from where it left off or will it
start over. If it starts over again, will disc be
overwritten by new attemp OR will it carry on from where
it left off?

Thanks
 
As you run out of discs you obviously had to 'cancel' the backup. Therefore
a new backup will start from scratch again and will, inevitably, overwrite
the data that is already on the discs. You don't actually say what backup
utility you are using. With so many discs i would imagine either Drive Image
or Ghost or something similar. Would it not be easier to backup to dvd
rather than cd? Assuming, of course, you have a dvd rw.
 
The best backup in xp,is file-transfer wizard,open utility,set computer as old
transfer data to a new folder that you created,or use the browse option,create a ne
folder,when its thru,transfer to a cd or dvd,you should end up in the 300 mb or less
you can edit what to copy.Then if xp becomes corrupted,re-install xp,then use transfer
then updates for xp.Microsoft techs will tell you this is the best way to backup xp,your
settings and files are the most critical and time consuming to replace,not reinstalling xp.
 
Eileen Pick said:
1. I tried to a compete backup for recovery purposes and
found that I have run out of discs. (I have 9 and all are
now full).

Question: I stopped the process and now want to restart.
Will the backup carry on from where it left off or will it
start over. If it starts over again, will disc be
overwritten by new attemp OR will it carry on from where
it left off? >Thanks
Click to expand...

Eileen, I too wanted to back up. i am talking a complete back-up,
and not just documents & stuff. I've been through what you are going
through. So I'll clue you in.

I wanted a complete back-up of everything, including the operating
system, so I wouldn't have to re-install everything if I had a hard
drive crash.

If this is what you want to do, and not simply save documents and
stuff, you will have to buy "imaging" software. I bought Norton's
(Symantec) "Ghost" program. My system was young then & not too
cluttered, and I could save to a DVD, not CDs (DVDs hold something
like 7 times more data than CDs.

Since then I have collected al kinds of stuff. Movies, pictures, etc.
This takes up a lot of space. Even backing up to DVDs would be a
hassle. So I just bit the bullet and bought an external Hard drive
that plugs into a USB 2 port. I think you might be able to find an 80
gig one for around $90 (just guessing). I found one on sale and with
a $50 rebate, so I paid $150 for a 160 gigger. (same size as my hard
drive in the computer). They should be plug and play with XP. Mine
is. I just plugged it into a USB 2 port, and my computer recognized it
and assigned a drive letter to it. Just unplug it after you are
finished and the assigned letter & drive go away.. I even leave mine
plugged in (USB), having the power cord plugged into an on-off switch
thingy (switched off of course), and the computer doesn't see it.

Hope that helps.

Big Mac
 
In
Big Mac said:
Even backing up to DVDs would be a
hassle. So I just bit the bullet and bought an external Hard drive
that plugs into a USB 2 port. I think you might be able to find an 80
gig one for around $90 (just guessing). I found one on sale and with
a $50 rebate, so I paid $150 for a 160 gigger. (same size as my hard
drive in the computer).
Click to expand...


Another, and usually cheaper, choice is to buy an inexpensive
($20-25) sleeve that installs internally just like a regular hard
drive. It comes with a matching case into which you insert a
regular IDE drive. When you want to do a backup, you slide (with
the power off) that case into the sleeve; when the backup is done
you remove it.

My personal backup scheme is to use two such removable drives and
alternate between their use. that way I'm never in the position
of having the act of backing up also being the act of destroying
my only backup.
 
With these "second hard drive" backup solutions, what backup
software do you use? Do you just XCOPY exerything over?
Does the registry getted backed up?

Ken Blake said:
In


Another, and usually cheaper, choice is to buy an inexpensive
($20-25) sleeve that installs internally just like a regular hard
drive. It comes with a matching case into which you insert a
regular IDE drive. When you want to do a backup, you slide (with
the power off) that case into the sleeve; when the backup is done
you remove it.

My personal backup scheme is to use two such removable drives and
alternate between their use. that way I'm never in the position
of having the act of backing up also being the act of destroying
my only backup.
Click to expand...

-----------
Don Payette
Unisys Corporation
I speak only for myself; not my employer
Please reply in the newsgroup. Don't try
sending e-mail.
 
In
Don Payette said:
With these "second hard drive" backup solutions, what backup
software do you use? Do you just XCOPY exerything over?
Click to expand...


No, XCOPY is not a suitable tool. I use Drive Image, but there
are other similar tools, like Ghost.

Does the registry getted backed up?
Click to expand...


Yes, everything on the disk gets backed up.
 
Ken Blake said:
Another, and usually cheaper, choice is to buy an inexpensive
($20-25) sleeve that installs internally just like a regular hard
drive. It comes with a matching case into which you insert a
regular IDE drive. When you want to do a backup, you slide (with
the power off) that case into the sleeve; when the backup is done
you remove it.

My personal backup scheme is to use two such removable drives and
alternate between their use. that way I'm never in the position
of having the act of backing up also being the act of destroying
my only backup.
Click to expand...

Well, I actually posted a thread asking about how I should proceed
with adding a temp hard drive for backing up. I have very small
pockets. I was even thinking of just hanging the wires out the back of
the computer and using a hard drive designed for an interior install.
Or get an external case designed for putting a hard drive in (don't
know if they still make them).

For some people yours would be the way to go. Maybe a majority. But
for me & other mini-tower owners, many of us do not have any more room
to add a sleeve. CD & a DVD drive, a multi-card reader, a floppy, &
a panel with a mic & a headphones jack - there is no more room.

You've also got to figure in the hassle of it all vs how much you'd
save putting a sleeve in there.. Then there is the bonus that I can
use my USB external & use with other peoples computers. $150 for a
160 gig external USB2 & the cable (that's with a rebate coming of
course). How much do I save buying the sleeve & connectors & hard
drive? If a few bucks matter, then go with the sleeve if you've got
the room.

Big Mac
 
Don Payette said:
With these "second hard drive" backup solutions, what backup
software do you use? Do you just XCOPY exerything over?
Does the registry getted backed up?
Click to expand...

I have Norton's Ghost. It makes a complete image of the hard drive.

However, I have not checked out something yet - with my USB2 external,
I can boot from floppy or CD or from a regular (EIDE?) hard drive, but
I do not know if I can boot with it with my particular computer brand
in case I have to copy everything back over to my regular hard drive
after a complete reinstall of windows.

I'll have to check into this further as to what my options are for
copying an imaged copy of C: back over to a reformatted C: drive from
an External USB HD.

At worst, I have saved all of my programs I installed anyway in their
pre-installed state, and saved all of my video & pics (which take up
the most room anyway), so I could just take an hour and re-install
those programs I saved easily enough.

Big Mac
 
WalMart has those external USB cases to put regular internal EIDE
harddrives in. I just saw them in the store the other day... I think
they were $50-60 USD...

I thought at the time that such a box with a large EIDE drive would
make a good back up....

ymmv,
JM
 
In
Big Mac said:
Well, I actually posted a thread asking about how I should proceed
with adding a temp hard drive for backing up. I have very small
pockets. I was even thinking of just hanging the wires out the back of
the computer and using a hard drive designed for an interior install.
Or get an external case designed for putting a hard drive in (don't
know if they still make them).

For some people yours would be the way to go. Maybe a majority. But
for me & other mini-tower owners, many of us do not have any more room
to add a sleeve. CD & a DVD drive, a multi-card reader, a floppy, &
a panel with a mic & a headphones jack - there is no more room.
Click to expand...


Understood. If you don't have room, then you don't. This is one
of the reasons I prefer larger cases; it adds extra flexibility
for things you might want to install in the future.
 
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