All of these computer problem threads got me thinking...

[WebmasterAlex]

Do you back up? No matter what precautions you take the possibility of a hard drive failure or a virus infection is always there. The slammer worm that just went around infected 67,000 computers in the first TEN minutes, doubling in size every 8.5 seconds. That one was targeted at servers but there isn't any reason they couldn't write one for regular computers too.
The virus software makers can't possibly protect you in time no matter what brand you use.
Hard drives fail. I don't care what brand, how expensive or how you care for it, they are mechanical devices and subject to failures.
If you keep data on your computer, tax stuff, financial records, important email, your PHD thesis, your only positive protection is to back things up.
There are a lot of ways to do that. If your data is really important to you consider the gold standard of the IT world... tape.
Burnable DVD's hold a lot of data, CD-roms may be enough if you don't have a lot of data. Even a couple of floppy's can be a lifesaver!
I'm throwing a DVD-R in as we speak

 

[helenabear]

Yes I do! I've lost pretty much everything once and almost lost a second hard drive a year ago (fortunately it was only a bad boot sector so I just got a new drive and used my other as a slave). That taught me to back up really quickly! I just got a new laptop though and as soon as I transfer everything I need to this laptop, I will clean out my old desktop and use it to make back ups for both of our computers.

 

[Boo'sMom]

sound advice Alex.....I really should back up....my entire life is on this computer.....

But...I should floss too.....

 

[Goofyposter]

your PHD thesis

OOOoooo! yer right! I'd hate ter hate ter relive my experience of be'in bitten by 10 baZillion black flies ter earn my shep's coat
in bitology!


LOL!
all joking aside...you're absolutely right Alex...and a CD-RW is a great way to go!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Ah! Thanks for the reminder, Alex. I better update and save all my school papers on disk.

 

[newmousecateer]

I have back-up (Norton calls them rescue discs) discs in a special case. But thanks for thinking of all of us.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Automatically EVERY Monday!

We've lost stuff too many times! We've finally learned.

 

[Nutsy]

I don't but I should....................I've lost everything a couple of times

Must do it this weekend

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Kind of a cool..what can happen link...
Even though they can do some amazing things with data recovery, trust me you DON'T want to have to pay for it, the cost can run in the 1000's of dollars!

Disk Disasters

 

[jfulcer]

My system is backed up to CD and also all my images are backed up to DVD-R also.

newmousecateer, are you sure you have what you think you have? In my experience, a 'rescue disk' from Norton is just a disk that allows you to boot and repair your system if you have an operating system failure. It will not get back your files if a virus erases your drive or the drive fails. If I am wrong, forgive me, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't get a nasty surprise some point in the future.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

I should back up the sound files(all zips) for a cd I'm burning

 

[pumba]

I am impressed at how many smart people are here......we learned the hard way when a brand new hard drive had a defect......it was a lemon.....happens sometimes......thanks for the advice alex

 

[Lisa L from MI]

OK Dumb question....but how do you back up??? I have been having TONS of computer problems!!!

I have some blank floppys and just some blank cd-r's.

I do need "step by step english" directions too!!!

If it is easier, someone can pm or email the directions to do it instead of posting it here....

Thanks!!!
Lisa

 

[jfulcer]

Lisa,

Your CD Burner should have come with some sort of backup software that allows you to backup and catalog your system. That would be the first place I would check. With the sizes of files and applications these days, I can't imagine someone backing up to floppies.

Just as an example, for my backup, I backup certain things - not the WHOLE drive. I only backup the documents and files that I have acquired, not the programs themselves. Those I can always re-install if need be. Here is a list of things to consider backing up:

• Important Documents (Your Mydocuments directory?)
• Tax data files if you use Tax Preparation software
• Sound Files
• Image Files (Do you have a digital camera that you are storing images for?)
• Mail directory (if you use a local mail program)
• Any configurations file you would like to keep that may be hard to recreate- like Browser Favorites, etc...
• Any software you downloaded from the Net to install on your machine.

There is probably more, but I think this is pretty close to the checklist I use at home. For my backup, I can use the software to drag and drop these items into a 'backup' disc. It takes me almost a whole CDR to backup my important documents, while it takes me a whole DVD-R to backup my images.

Good luck! Let us know if you need any more help.

Jeff