What's a good Home PC backup strategy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter M Skabialka
  • Start date Start date
M

M Skabialka

An older friend has had several PCs in the past, and whenever he gets a new
one asks me to move his emails, documents, financial data, etc over. I
reinstall the programs. He is now thinking about setting up some kind of
backup system in case he loses his important files. He has asked me to
research this and set something up.



What is the best way to regularly save his files so that in case of a
computer meltdown he still has the important stuff, and can restore these
quickly?



I'm not thinking an entire image of his drive is needed. e.g. I daily
backup up a server to a tape - just the user files, not the software, but I
think he needs something a little more slick than NT Backup, which is rather
kludgy, and he doesn't have a tape drive.. He has Win XP, I think the pro
edition though I am not sure.



Any advice I can give him?

Thanks,

Mich
 
M said:
An older friend has had several PCs in the past, and whenever he gets a
new
one asks me to move his emails, documents, financial data, etc over. I
reinstall the programs. He is now thinking about setting up some kind of
backup system in case he loses his important files. He has asked me to
research this and set something up.
Click to expand...
What is the best way to regularly save his files so that in case of a
computer meltdown he still has the important stuff, and can restore these
quickly?

I'm not thinking an entire image of his drive is needed. e.g. I daily
backup up a server to a tape - just the user files, not the software, but
I think he needs something a little more slick than NT Backup, which is
rather
kludgy, and he doesn't have a tape drive.. He has Win XP, I think the pro
edition though I am not sure.
Click to expand...

You're a good friend. For clients, I like to have a second hard drive -
internal or external - and Second Copy from www.centered.com (only about
$30). I create SC profiles for the various data and funnel them all into
one folder called something clever like "Backup" on the second hard drive.
Then I teach the client how to burn a cd/dvd-r so that once a
week/month/whatever they only need to burn that *one* folder and take the
cd/dvd-r and put it in a safe place.

You can combine this with an imaging program like Acronis True Image if you
like. I don't recommend tape drives. Here's a bit more detail:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Backing_Up

Malke
 
M Skabialka said:
An older friend has had several PCs in the past, and whenever he gets a
new one asks me to move his emails, documents, financial data, etc over.
I reinstall the programs. He is now thinking about setting up some kind
of backup system in case he loses his important files. He has asked me to
research this and set something up.



What is the best way to regularly save his files so that in case of a
computer meltdown he still has the important stuff, and can restore these
quickly?



I'm not thinking an entire image of his drive is needed. e.g. I daily
backup up a server to a tape - just the user files, not the software, but
I think he needs something a little more slick than NT Backup, which is
rather kludgy, and he doesn't have a tape drive.. He has Win XP, I think
the pro edition though I am not sure.



Any advice I can give him?

Thanks,

Mich
Click to expand...

I am using Acronis True Image. Great product. Easy to use. and it is very
fast.
It works with CDR, DVDR, and USB hard disk.
 
I downloaded a trail copy and this is so easy to use that I ordered the real
thing. Along with a 120 GB HDD on sale for $49.99, he's in backup heaven
for about $80!



Thanks for the referral!



Mich
 
M Skabialka said:
I downloaded a trail copy and this is so easy to use that I ordered the real
thing. Along with a 120 GB HDD on sale for $49.99, he's in backup heaven
for about $80!
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the ticket! I have been recommending an external usb 2.0 HD
and MS SyncToy for about a year now, it's real cheap and easy to setup and
then run regularlly to make a copy of your personal files. It won't help
you recover or restore a crashed system tho, just your personal files.
BUT, that external HD can also store IMAGES if you decide to buy an
imaging tool later (there are some free imagers out there, google for
'em). 160 GB external drives are under $100 at most discount stores these
days (w/o any backup software; just use SyncToy with "Contribute" Mode).

[BTW, the "External Backup" drives, w/ included backup software and a
button on the drive's front panel, are WAY THE HELL OVERPRICED!!!! $200
or more for the package, when the drive+case+cable alone is $75! No way].

For an average Joe 160 GB is LOTS of space; video archivers won't think so
tho...

And you can use this method to backup several machines/accounts. You just
need to be sure the machine has usb 2.0; usb 1.1 is WAY SLOW!
 
This is an internal drive, but I don't think there should be a problem with
it not being an external one. He already has a lot of external devices
(business card reader, printer, zip drive, etc) so this is quite transparent
to him, except that it works!

M Skabialka said:
I downloaded a trail copy and this is so easy to use that I ordered the
real
thing. Along with a 120 GB HDD on sale for $49.99, he's in backup heaven
for about $80!
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the ticket! I have been recommending an external usb 2.0 HD
and MS SyncToy for about a year now, it's real cheap and easy to setup and
then run regularlly to make a copy of your personal files. It won't help
you recover or restore a crashed system tho, just your personal files.
BUT, that external HD can also store IMAGES if you decide to buy an
imaging tool later (there are some free imagers out there, google for
'em). 160 GB external drives are under $100 at most discount stores these
days (w/o any backup software; just use SyncToy with "Contribute" Mode).

[BTW, the "External Backup" drives, w/ included backup software and a
button on the drive's front panel, are WAY THE HELL OVERPRICED!!!! $200
or more for the package, when the drive+case+cable alone is $75! No way].

For an average Joe 160 GB is LOTS of space; video archivers won't think so
tho...

And you can use this method to backup several machines/accounts. You just
need to be sure the machine has usb 2.0; usb 1.1 is WAY SLOW!
Click to expand...
 
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