Home backups

CathJ

CathJ

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Do you backup your pc regularly, and if so, how do you do it?

Backing up to CD obviously isn't a solution; backup up to DVD, slightly more useful except that I don't have a DVD writer.

I'm intending, once I get my desktop pc set up again, to use that as a backup for my laptop, but I'll need to get some decent backup software to manage it because windows backup is a pain.
 
well i copy everything to my portable hard drive whenever i have new things or updated ones. u can use a scheduled windows backup or nero backup, then copy that backup to a external hard drive. there is no easy way around this. if you want to be safe, then you gotta put in a bit of hard work and do regular backups.
 
I use an app called goodsync and setup the folders I normally do stuff in aswell as my outlook .pst files to sync with my desktop as soon as its on the network and that has always worked well.
I agree that windows standard backup software is terrible stuff.
 
I use Acronis True Image (www.acronis.com) and backup to an external hard drive. If your hard drive crashes you can have your entire machine up and running again within an hour of getting your new hard drive.
 
Cathryn said:
Do you backup your pc regularly, and if so, how do you do it?

Backing up to CD obviously isn't a solution; backup up to DVD, slightly more useful except that I don't have a DVD writer.

I'm intending, once I get my desktop pc set up again, to use that as a backup for my laptop, but I'll need to get some decent backup software to manage it because windows backup is a pain.
Click to expand...
I back up my photographs to two hdds and dvd, my other data to a external hdd that lives in the garage.
 
TV series and movies you can get again.
I send myself emails on gmail with compressed, encrypted attachments of personal data I don't want to lose. Yesterday I uploaded 20mb before I was capped.
 
I use a 500gig external HDD and the 'Backup Everything' option in windows backup.

I've never had to restore but am expecting fun and games when I do have to.
 
I use Norton Ghost to backup my drive to a 2nd 160Gb internal drive.
 
I just copy MyDocs&Desktop to an external HDD.

I want to backup (almost) everything to DVDs, but 500GB=>110DVD @ ~R4 = R450

Ouch. Almost cheaper to buy another external HDD.
 
yup but if that hdd fails say bye bye to 500 gig

could u say the same about the dvd's?

4 bucks a dvd damn where you buying from
 
@those who do full backups to external HDDs: how long does it take and how often do you do it? I use Ghost but it takes 20mins+ and I can't be bothered to do it very often ... I zip my documents and copy them over much more often.
 
killadoob said:
yup but if that hdd fails say bye bye to 500 gig

could u say the same about the dvd's?

4 bucks a dvd damn where you buying from
Click to expand...
I'm not going to trust anything important to dvd alone.
 
i would trust a dvd more than an external hdd

i have never had one dvd fail EVER, although i've only ever had one hdd fail and it was old hahahah

putting all your eggs in one hdd is scary

atleast with dvd's if something goes wrong its only 4 gigs and not 500 gig

i would full sick if i lost 500 gigs, alot more than if 1 dvd stop working
 
The other question is, where do you store your dvds or external drive with the backups on it? Obviously there's the risk of fire, but more importantly, of theft...

My plan is to back up to my pc from my laptop, then every now and then copy that backup to an external drive and store it on my parents' pc.. but I suspect I'll do it once or twice and then get sloppy.
 
Cathryn said:
The other question is, where do you store your dvds or external drive with the backups on it? Obviously there's the risk of fire, but more importantly, of theft...

My plan is to back up to my pc from my laptop, then every now and then copy that backup to an external drive and store it on my parents' pc.. but I suspect I'll do it once or twice and then get sloppy.
Click to expand...
Off site is best - I keep my backup drives in the garage.
killadoob said:
i have never had one dvd fail EVER, although i've only ever had one hdd fail and it was old hahahah
Click to expand...
I've had more dvds fail than I have hdd's - that's why I use both.
 
I make a backup using Acronis True Image Home 10 and store it on my server :) I have about 5 different backups on my server so I can always revert back to one of the older ones if they new one is corrupt (never happened yet, though). And I backup every 2 weeks.
 
yea beanie thats what i've done

setup windows exactly how i want it, im going restore every month to keep things running smooooooooth
 
One way partially to back up more important data is to have a separate partition on the same drive. Say only 5 or 6 Gig. That way you can restore your laptop from the official discs after copying all the things you need to the spare partition which will stay untouched when you restore.

There have been times when I've had spyware and viruses and it was just simpler to restore.
 
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