Backing up

[jessejw]

Hello, I was wondering what you use to backup your files! I am thinking of backing up and doing a fresh install soon just in-case something happens. Last time my hard drive crashed I lost everything and was really mad about it. I had nothing backed up .




Also how big of a external should i get to back up computers in the house or a better way to backup files?

 

[jonniehack]

Pretty difficult question to answer to be honest.

I simply use a 1TB HDD, and CTRL-C (copy) then CTRL-V (paste) to back up my stuff.

Its all relevant to what you have to actually back up

A good program to use is something like allwaysync. Its FREE! Buy yourself a external HDD then set up a sync between your PC and the HDD, it'll be lengthy the first time you do it but will only sync changed/new files so each time thereafter will take much less time.

Dedicated backup programs like norton backup or Nero back up, in my opinion, arent worth your HDD space or PC resources.

EDIT: Sorry for male chauvinist comment (thats how we do things here) but if thats you in that sig pic....then... daaaaaaaaaaaang.

 

[jessejw]

Pretty difficult question to answer to be honest.

I simply use a 1TB HDD, and CTRL-C (copy) then CTRL-V (paste) to back up my stuff.

Its all relevant to what you have to actually back up

A good program to use is something like allwaysync. Its FREE! Buy yourself a external HDD then set up a sync between your PC and the HDD, it'll be lengthy the first time you do it but will only sync changed/new files so each time thereafter will take much less time.

Dedicated backup programs like norton backup or Nero back up, in my opinion, arent worth your HDD space or PC resources.

EDIT: Sorry for male chauvinist comment (thats how we do things here) but if thats you in that sig pic....then... daaaaaaaaaaaang.

Thanks for the information How much do you think a 2-3TB HDD would be. I have to back up about 4-5 PC's. I have lots of Video and pictures so it takes up a good amount of space.

EDIT: I did not see your edit but that is not me its just a pic I used for the sig

 

[Lunarpancake]

a 2tb internal drive will run you $70-$150. External your looking at like $135-$200.


Instead of copy pasting you may want to look into a program for backing up such as SyncBack. Its free for personal use i believe.

Or you can go to online backups using a site like Mozy, or Carbonite. Most of these online backup sites charge $30-$50 a month for unlimited space to backup to. It can also be a good idea because your data is off-site. If you have a house fire or something else disastrous your data will still be available.

 

[MacGyvr]

I use a 1TB drive and SyncToy.

 

[jessejw]

a 2tb internal drive will run you $70-$150. External your looking at like $135-$200.


Instead of copy pasting you may want to look into a program for backing up such as SyncBack. Its free for personal use i believe.

Or you can go to online backups using a site like Mozy, or Carbonite. Most of these online backup sites charge $30-$50 a month for unlimited space to backup to. It can also be a good idea because your data is off-site. If you have a house fire or something else disastrous your data will still be available.

Thanks for the information. I would rather have the information on a external HDD.

I use a 1TB drive and SyncToy.

I heard of SyncToy I am going to look into that.

 

[pparks1]

I use an external hard drive and robocopy to backup my actual files. Then I use Acronis to image my machine. I run the data backups more often and keep them on 2 different external hard drives which I keep offsite in case my house is robbed or burns down.

 

[jessejw]

I use an external hard drive and robocopy to backup my actual files. Then I use Acronis to image my machine. I run the data backups more often and keep them on 2 different external hard drives which I keep offsite in case my house is robbed or burns down.

When I get my external I'm going to back all the computers up, do a fresh install on this one, stick the external in my Safe it is one of the fire ones so it should be OK if something bad does happen or someone tries to steal it.

 

[mjf]

If you aren't already aware there a 2 very different types of "backup"
(1) Imaging - takes a snapshot of your disk partitions and you can store them on your external HDD. If your internal HDD software goes crazy or needs replacing, just replace the image (snapshot) and the whole thing, operating system, programs data, the works.
(2) File/folder backup. Just keeps backups of your personal files and folders which can change daily.

For (1) try the windows inbuilt imaging and the free Macrium Reflect image. Try 2 for safety if one lets you down. You may get to prefer one over the other.
For (2) if you want to run just basic type backups I'd just try the windows inbuilt file/folder backup and see if it meets your needs.

 

[jimbo45]

a 2tb internal drive will run you $70-$150. External your looking at like $135-$200.


Instead of copy pasting you may want to look into a program for backing up such as SyncBack. Its free for personal use i believe.

Or you can go to online backups using a site like Mozy, or Carbonite. Most of these online backup sites charge $30-$50 a month for unlimited space to backup to. It can also be a good idea because your data is off-site. If you have a house fire or something else disastrous your data will still be available.

Hi there
ONLINE backups aren't of much use for HOME users genrally since the speeds at which most ISP's allow UPLOADS is often fairly limited even though DOWNLOAD speed is fine.

Also a lot of ISP's CAP bandwidth so having sevral hundred GB backed up online will cost you an arm and a leg both in TIME and MONEY.

You'll be surprised at how much data you have -- even a few photos with the current crop of digital cameras runs up at quite a size and once you start playing around with VIDEO then you really will need LOADS of space.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Gw2]

If you have 55 dollars a year I recommend Carbonite. It'll backup whatever you want online, and does it all automatically and in the background. It'll take about a week or so to get it backing up everything you want properly (it'll ignore .ini's from gamesave folders and such whch you'll need to tell it to grab) but after that your backup is pretty much bulletproof. I do that and have a 2TB HDD for my backups. I dont backup my system image online because it's huge, so I keep that on the hard drive. other than that, both backups should be identical.

The rule of thumb for solid backup is you need 3 copies of everything. The original, a local backup (the 2TB HDD in my case) and an offsite backup (Carbonite in my case). What I don't recommend is having an offsite HDD backup because then all of your data is on HDD's, it's like putting all of your eggs in 3 very similar basket. rather than 3 baskets all with different strengths and weaknesses. Carbonite has been around for along time and is a reliable company that isn't going anywhere so you don't have to worry about them shutting down next year and losing your online backup. If you can afford it I think it's the best way to go.

Sorry for the wall of text.

 

[Packet]

I'd recommend looking at a NAS like a D-Link DNS-323 (2 drives - RAID - 1) ... because even external hard drives fail...

link: D-Link 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure

 

[Gw2]

But the NAS uses external drives aswell.

 

[richnrockville]

I have 4 small external USB/ESATA hard disks that I rotate on a regular basis. I use Acronis backup to create images of my hard disks on my laptop every other day or so. Having an image of your C drive is a real warm fuzzy whenever I install some program that might screw up my system.

Acronis is available very reasonable from the user group store at ugr.com and if your a user group member, the price is $25 which is a real deal. I don't have financial interest just love good software that is reasonable.

Rich

 

[mjf]

jessejw,
Don't waste your money.
I suggest you consider the advice I gave earlier.
Use the inbuilt Windows backup & restore file/folder + imaging
AND Macrium Reflect free.
If the Windows imaging causes you problems then you have Macrium which is a robust product. Don't start solving imaginary problems - just download Macrium for now.

Also, make yourself a couple of "System Repair" DVDs by going to the "Backup & Restore Panel"

 

[Packet]

But the NAS uses external drives aswell.

yes my bad - i should have said 'single external drives can fail'

end objective being to have some form of external redundant storage (i gave the RAID 1 / mirror example that i've setup for some friends)

to me, that saves the entire hierarchical approach - and the NAS becomes a one-stop shop, backups, other data, etc.

 

[tilliedog]

I use Mozy, or I should say I used Mozy up to 18 days ago. It has stopped working and the suggested solutions don't seem to work. It's a multi-computer license. I have another computer on the home net with the same utilities and applications running (same versions), except the Vista computer is being backed-up and the Win 7 is not.
Have Spyware Doctor and McAfee running on both.