if hard drive fails

  • Thread starter Thread starter rb
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R

rb

Running Win XP. I have a 120gb usb backup.

What would be a good combo of files to put on backup?

I can think of Program Files, and My Docs. What are some other things I
should copy that will help me if main hard drive goes south???
 
Backing up Program files wont help, you wont be able to restore them after a
failure.
You can backup data & some settings & installation files
For a restorable / recovery full 'backup' use an imaging program ie Acronis
TI
 
Running Win XP. I have a 120gb usb backup.

What would be a good combo of files to put on backup?

I can think of Program Files, and My Docs. What are some other things I
should copy that will help me if main hard drive goes south???
Click to expand...


Backing up program files is generally useless. Almost all programs
have references and pointers within \windows, in the registry and
elsewhere. If you have to reinstall Windows, all of that is lost and
your backed up programs won't run even if you restore them from the
backup.

You might like to read this article on backup I recently wrote: "Back
Up Your Computer Regularly and Reliably" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
 
rb said:
Running Win XP. I have a 120gb usb backup.

What would be a good combo of files to put on backup?

I can think of Program Files, and My Docs. What are some other things I
should copy that will help me if main hard drive goes south???
Click to expand...
Look at your start menu. Think about the things you create, word docs,
etc. Those are the things to backup.
You should be able to reload XP and your software apps that are
installed. But you can't replace those created docs.
C:\documents and settings\user\.... is a repository for a lot of
settings and docs. You should probably look there for a good start at
backup, but beware that not everything can be restored just willy nilly.

However as complicated as this all sounds, and it should sound complex,
an imaging program like Acronis will take a full snapshot of hard drive
and allow it to be restored and everything is back as was. My HD takes
10 minutes to backup /restore. 10 minutes of a restore, and a crashed
HD would be fixed. And not a single color, picture, setting etc will be
missed. Its so much simpler than trying to figure out what little file
contains what configuration info and should you or should you not back
it up.
 
A simple file backup utility will do you no good
if your hard drive fails as the Windows OS will also be lost.
Worse yet is if your PC only has a "Restore Partition" and no
Windows XP CD then you have lost the ability to reinstall Windows.

What you need is a way to restore Windows and all the files
and documents you have after you install a new hard drive.
To do this you need an "Image Backup" software application.

It then becomes an easy task to restore your system
(to exactly the way it was when you created the image backup)
using the "Image File" located on your external USB drive.

Norton Ghost version 14 - has a 30 day trial available
(Trial does not allow you to create a Bootable Restore CD AFAK)
http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost14
Product Review "Symantec's 14th Ghost":
http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/Norton-Ghost--Review-78775.shtml

True Image 2009 - has a 15 day trial version available,
(Trial version can create a Restore CD, but I have not verified this yet)
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

JS
http://www.pagestart.com
 
Acronis TrueImage is an excellent tool as it enables you to create a full
system backup or simply backup individual files or folders as well as making
a backup of your e-mail. From the full system backup you can do a full
system restore or you can simply restore files or folders to either their
original location or to another location. The program allows you to create
and restore backups to CDR/DVD/USB drives or to another networked system.
Over the years I've used most backup programs and find TrueImage to be the
fastest and easiest to use.
 
Backing up program files is generally useless. Almost all programs
have references and pointers within \windows, in the registry and
elsewhere. If you have to reinstall Windows, all of that is lost and
your backed up programs won't run even if you restore them from the
backup.

You might like to read this article on backup I recently wrote: "Back
Up Your Computer Regularly and Reliably" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
Click to expand...

This excellent article seems to omit
1. Planned duplication in RAID drives. (I do not use these,
but I thought this was what they were for. . . )
2. The difference between complete and supplemental
backup. Complete backup takes a lot of time: but once
that has been done most tools allow you to add later
supplementary backups of only those files that have
been changed or added since last time. This is usually
fast, thus encourages you to back up on a weekly or
daily basis, depending on need.

(MVP Blake recommends Acronis for disk imaging. On
my workaday Win98 PC (i.e. much smaller Registry, saved
every day in a CAB file less than 2 Mb) I use the free utility
from www.xxcopy.com, which has dozens of parameters
ranging from CLONE (which enables copying Windows
system files Windows COPY might disallow) to /BN =
back up New or Changed only. It is also convenient
for sorting via commands like
xxcopy c:\*.jpg /s /bn X:\photos\tosort\
xxcopy c:\*.mp3 /s /bn X:\music\new
i.e. new JPGs from anywhere on C: are copied all
into the same subfolder on drive X:)
 
This excellent article
Click to expand...


Thanks for calling it excellent.

seems to omit
1. Planned duplication in RAID drives. (I do not use these,
but I thought this was what they were for. . . )
Click to expand...


No, it's *not* for backup.

Most people completely misunderstand what RAID 1 is all about.
RAID 1 (mirroring) is *not* a backup solution. RAID 1 uses two or more
drives, each a duplicate of the others, to provide redundancy, not
backup. It's used in situations (almost always within corporations,
not in homes) where any downtime can't be tolerated, because the way
it works is that if one drive fails the other takes over seamlessly
and almost instantly.

Although some people thing of RAID 1 as a backup technique, that is
*not* what it is, since it's subject to simultaneous loss of the
original and the mirror to many of the most common dangers threatening
your data--severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, user
errors, virus attacks, theft of the computer, etc. Most companies that
use RAID 1 also have a strong external backup plan in place.


2. The difference between complete and supplemental
backup. Complete backup takes a lot of time: but once
that has been done most tools allow you to add later
supplementary backups of only those files that have
been changed or added since last time. This is usually
fast, thus encourages you to back up on a weekly or
daily basis, depending on need.
Click to expand...


I am not a fan of supplemental backup. It's problem is that it
recognizes new files and changed files, but ignores deleted files.
That's not usually an important factor, but it can be.

My view of backup is also that it, almost any kind, can be done at
night while you are asleep. F that's the way you do it, how long it
takes isn't important for the vast majority of us.


(MVP Blake recommends Acronis for disk imaging. On
my workaday Win98 PC (i.e. much smaller Registry, saved
every day in a CAB file less than 2 Mb) I use the free utility
from www.xxcopy.com, which has dozens of parameters
Click to expand...


There are lots of ways to accomplish disk imaging. I recommend the one
I like, but you should certainly feel free to use others.
 
Don Phillipson wrote:

....
....
which has dozens of parameters
ranging from CLONE (which enables copying Windows
system files Windows COPY might disallow) to /BN =
back up New or Changed only.
Click to expand...
....

I don't think "clone" works for the operating system files that are
locked or open. At least it didn't used to; the workaround was to use
another os with vmware or such. Has that changed?

XXCopy user here, too. It's powerful and fast; love it! You can save
me some research: Did you really mean to imply that XXCopy uses Shadow
Copy Services or some other method to work with locked files? I'm
using XXCopy Pro V 2.95.3 right now and I see the latest if 2.97.3, I
think it was.
I spent quite a bit of research trying to figure how to get system
files once and it couldn't be done?

I use it similar to the way you do but on XP Pro SP3. I have some files
I like backed up whenever I work on them, so I might run it several
times a day, writing to the same destination images go to; I add the
date tag and end up with a reasonable version control system. Backup is
very fast and it's a snap to get something back if I need it.

Thanks, I know I can research/check it out on my own but thought I'd ask
for a control point in case there is a rev level involved. I don't see
anything helpful on the site except the workaround from old posts.

TIA

Twayne
 
rb said:
Running Win XP. I have a 120gb usb backup.

What would be a good combo of files to put on backup?

I can think of Program Files, and My Docs. What are some other things I
should copy that will help me if main hard drive goes south???
Click to expand...


Though a full clone is not a bad idea,
your operating system and applications can always be reinstalled...
so it is essential to backup all your data...

In other words all your important stuff that you could not re-create
(or not re-create easily)

Documents, and photos for example

You may also want to backup your email .dbx files
 
philo said:
Though a full clone is not a bad idea,
your operating system and applications can always be reinstalled...
so it is essential to backup all your data...

In other words all your important stuff that you could not re-create
(or not re-create easily)

Documents, and photos for example

You may also want to backup your email .dbx files
Click to expand...

A full partition image is simple and easy enough that IMHO it should be
the primary backup method. That said, I create such images less often
than daily, and also back up changes to My Documents most days.

Reinstalling applications is fine if you have hard media to do it from.
If you downloaded an application, or even a substantial update to an
application, you'll be up a creek if you don't back up those files.
Personally, I download to a directory in My Documents, so always
having an up-to-date My Documents backup makes reinstallation
possible.

And, of course, you will for various applications need a backup of
the email that told you your license number, or you may reinstall
only to not be able to get the application to do anything.

And so it goes. The "good combo of files to put on a backup"
is simply "all of them". And a partition image will do that plus
saving the system configuration that makes the files usable.
 
I'm not a wiz like these other guys but I have my o/s on 1 drive an 2 running
raid 1. I partition the raid drives and backup using Norton Ghost. The 1st
ghost is o/s only, 2nd is o/s and programs I know I will always use, and the
3rd is a complete setup. I also back to my external and flash...im silly like
that. This is just my setup. Back up your docs with it or onto the flash
separetly. If you have a 16 gb flash drive you can fit them (ghosts) all on
there. If your hd goes south just recover the ghost image to the new hd and
your are up and running in 10-30min depending on how much stuff you have
backed. No reinstalling windows.
 
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