Backups for Non-Geeks

[Puddleglum]

The only backups I've regularly done were using a zip disk . . . and that was many years ago with a "normal" computer. My laptop is almost 4 years old, and is starting to sporadically act funny, so I've been thinking that I should probably get back into the habit of making backups.
Except that the only way I know how to backup anything is to mail it to my gmail account as an attachment. (My laptop doesn't have a zip drive). I've got one of those memory stick things, but I don't even remember what program I used to run to make backups or even if it would work with the memory stick.
I use AVG as an anti-virus and it had me make some sort of restore file (I can't remember what it was called - someone told me that it would be used to restore files, or something like that). So I've got that on my memory stick - but that was about half a year ago, and I don't know how to make another one - or even if I should.
I'm also wondering about backing up email files. Obviously, my gmail account isn't a problem; but I have some info in my msn account that's stored in the "my computer" section and I've got absolutely no clue how to back up any of that except to go through and save each and every email individually. Which I don't want to do (I'm not that bored!). (When I used to do hard drive backups with the zip disk, whatever I used didn't back up emails).

So I guess what I'm wondering is what is an easy - and cheap - way of backing up my computer, including my emails, if possible. I'm not really concerned with it being the "best" way of doing it - just something that is cheap (I'm willing to buy another memory stick, but that's about all the money I can reasonably put towards this right now) and non-technical.

Thanks guys . . .

 

[jfschultz]

If your computer can burn CD's back up to recordable CD's. They are less than $1.00 each with a case in packs of 10. A spindle of 50 (no cases) runs $15-$20.

Better yet recordable DVD if your system can burn them. They cost more per unit but less for the capacity than CD's.

The next time you turn on your laptop should be to do the backup!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Jessica,

I take a bit of a minimalist view on backing up. I don't back up my entire computer but only information that I cannot re-install. While it is a bit of a pain, reinstalling an OS and reinstalling programs is a couple day evolution. If I lose e-mails or digital photographs then I'm through.

My "perishable" information is usually contained in two places:

My Documents
Digital Images

Of course, the problem is that My Documents folder is a few GB in size and Digital Images folders have about 30,000 images over 7 years and contain about 20 GB of information.

The solution I use is an external hard drive connected by USB to my computer. Companies used to charge a huge premium for these. It's still cheaper to build one yourself but it's not much more expensive to just buy one at an electronics store.

I also use a simple program called filesync (http://www.fileware.com/products.htm) and have for years. I don't like resource hogs like Norton Ghost that reside in memory.

Filesync allows me to compare two directories and copy files from one to another based on what's missing from one or newer on the other. In this case, I create a folder on my external drive called My Documents and then I synchronize files between the My Documents folder on my hard drive with the external drive. I do the same with the Digital Images folder. Syncing about once every few days means that it takes very little time.

You might be able to get away with a thumb drive if you have very little data (few large documents or pictures). If not then I recommend a hard drive over CD's and DVD's. DVD media is a slow method of backup and is actually a bit less reliable in the long run than hard drives. Based on the low failure rate of hard drives, it is a pretty secure way to have piece of mind by backing up your data to another hard drive. The odds that both are going to fail simultaneously is virtually nil.

If you REALLY need piece of mind beyond that then you should consider offsite storage.

The simple answer for you is:
1. What do you need to back up?
2. Do you know where on your hard drive it is? (you mentioned e-mail, do you know where your e-mail files are? I can help you if you tell me the program you're using)
3. Do you know the size of the information you need to back up?

 

[fredtgreco]

Jessica,

If you are using Outlook, it should be easy to compact and archive your emails. You can compact them, buy a CD-RW (a CD that you can write on multiple times) and then burn it every week. It is likely that you could just get in the habit of doing that every week, since email files are typically not real big. I keep more emails than most people since I need to do that for work, and my email archive is only 450MB, with the active email file being 150MB.

 

[Puddleglum]

Originally posted by SemperFideles
Jessica,

I take a bit of a minimalist view on backing up. I don't back up my entire computer but only information that I cannot re-install. While it is a bit of a pain, reinstalling an OS and reinstalling programs is a couple day evolution. If I lose e-mails or digital photographs then I'm through.

I'm going to ask some questions that are probably pretty stupid, so please be patient!

OS=Operating System, right? This would be Windows XP or something like that? I don't know how to reinstall that; but I probably know someone who would walk me through it . . .

Programs=things like Office and Firefox?

So you don't back up those, but do back up emails, photos, etc? That makes sense . . .

My "perishable" information is usually contained in two places:

My Documents
Digital Images

Yay! I know what "my documents" is!

Of course, the problem is that My Documents folder is a few GB in size and Digital Images folders have about 30,000 images over 7 years and contain about 20 GB of information.

I think that my My Documents folder is about 135 MB (if I was looking at the right thing), so that would mean that I have less stuff than you, right?

The solution I use is an external hard drive connected by USB to my computer. Companies used to charge a huge premium for these. It's still cheaper to build one yourself but it's not much more expensive to just buy one at an electronics store.

I'm definately not building one . . . is an external hard drive basically like a really huge memory stick?

I also use a simple program called filesync (http://www.fileware.com/products.htm) and have for years. I don't like resource hogs like Norton Ghost that reside in memory.

Filesync allows me to compare two directories and copy files from one to another based on what's missing from one or newer on the other. In this case, I create a folder on my external drive called My Documents and then I synchronize files between the My Documents folder on my hard drive with the external drive. I do the same with the Digital Images folder. Syncing about once every few days means that it takes very little time.

I think that makes sense . . . is it pretty easy / foolproof? (I've done something similar before, I think, but copied the old over the new by mistake - not fun!)

You might be able to get away with a thumb drive if you have very little data (few large documents or pictures). If not then I recommend a hard drive over CD's and DVD's. DVD media is a slow method of backup and is actually a bit less reliable in the long run than hard drives. Based on the low failure rate of hard drives, it is a pretty secure way to have piece of mind by backing up your data to another hard drive. The odds that both are going to fail simultaneously is virtually nil.

Okay, so if I could find a memory stick big enough (bigger than 135 MB), I could just use that?

If you REALLY need piece of mind beyond that then you should consider offsite storage.

I don't have stuff that is really going to make my life miserable if I lose it; just stuff that would be nice not to lose . . . so I don't think I need to mess with offsite storage, whatever that is!

The simple answer for you is:
1. What do you need to back up?

Mainly emails and Word documents; I have a couple dozen pictures, and a few Excel worksheets as well.

2. Do you know where on your hard drive it is? (you mentioned e-mail, do you know where your e-mail files are? I can help you if you tell me the program you're using)

No; I have no clue - well, I know how to access My Documents from My Computer, but I have no idea where my emails are. I'm using Gmail and MSN - Gmail isn't a problem, obviously - but MSN is, but I have no idea where those are stored.

3. Do you know the size of the information you need to back up?

I think that My Documents is 135 MB; I have no idea how big my emails are.

Thanks!
-Jess

 

[Puddleglum]

Originally posted by fredtgreco
Jessica,

If you are using Outlook, it should be easy to compact and archive your emails. You can compact them, buy a CD-RW (a CD that you can write on multiple times) and then burn it every week. It is likely that you could just get in the habit of doing that every week, since email files are typically not real big. I keep more emails than most people since I need to do that for work, and my email archive is only 450MB, with the active email file being 150MB.

I'm not using Outlook. Is it part of Office and easy to set up? (If it is part of Office, then I have it but just aren't using it).

What's the difference between your "email archive" and "the active email file"?

Thanks!
-Jess

 

[Semper Fidelis]

You pretty much have the idea of what I was saying Jessica. An external hard drive is just a hard drive like the one that's in your computer except in an external enclosure. The models you can typically buy that are package at places like Best Buy are the larger variety harddrives you find in desktop computers. It's not a bad idea to have one of those.

Honestly if you're not sure where your e-mail files are then very likely they are in C:\Documents and Settings in a folder under your username. Very likely your My Documents folder is in that directory too. If you put your pictures in the My Pictures folder in My Documents then your pictures are probably in Documents and Settings as well.

You could back up just Documents and Settings to ensure that your most important files are saved.

It sounds, however, like you're a bit uncertain about where you put things and you're unsure how you would reinstall the Operating System (OS) and your programs. I therefore recommend an external hard drive. I think once you have one you'd be very happy. I prefer them, as I said, to DVD burners for a number of reasons.

I like buying computer stuff from Newegg. Awesome prices. Here are some options:

Simpletech 100 GB 2.5" External Hardrive - $163. This is kind of a "high-end" option but it would allow for lots of growth in the future. It's super-compact too. The hard-drive is powered by the USB port so you don't have to lug around cords. You could carry this in your computer bag.

Seagate Portable 40 GB - $110. This thing is small and very nice. Another drive that is powered by the USB port.

Fantom Titanium 40GB - $76. Another nice option. Very compact.

I think you will love having one of these to bring with you. Not only can you back up your whole hard drive with any of the above options but you can carry your data around with you. These things weigh a few ounces and will fit in a shirt pocket or purse easily. Thumb drives are nice for small files but I find even 1 GB to be limiting. Try finding a 2 GB thumb drive in fact for less than $75. Above you have 40GB-100GB. You could plug those into any computer to transfer or copy files.

As for your backup solution with one of these, just use the built in Windows XP backup if you want to go cheap since you're buying an external hard drive. Once you plug in the hard drive, Windows XP assigns it a drive letter and you can look for files on it just like you look for files on your C: Drive (except in this case it would probably be the E: drive). Do regular backups to your External drive. The Backup utility compresses the hard drive so you have a much smaller version to carry around.

If you don't mind spending a few extra bucks then I would recommend either:
Norton Ghost 10
or
Stomp PC Backup - $60

You may think the above are for power users but they're not. Frankly, they're no more complicated than the Windows XP backup program but have more powerful features.

 

[jfschultz]

Originally posted by SemperFideles
You might be able to get away with a thumb drive if you have very little data (few large documents or pictures). If not then I recommend a hard drive over CD's and DVD's. DVD media is a slow method of backup and is actually a bit less reliable in the long run than hard drives. Based on the low failure rate of hard drives, it is a pretty secure way to have piece of mind by backing up your data to another hard drive. The odds that both are going to fail simultaneously is virtually nil.

I agree, and use a hard drive for my backups. However, Jessica's original post expressed money concerns, and is why I suggested CD's or DVD's.

I recently lost the hard drive in my laptop. (There was the clicking noise of physical damage.) Because the shop indicated that there was also a logic board problem, it got replaced. It turns out that the old laptop works well using the external drive I used for backups. So I am in the process of setting it up as a file server so backups can be done easily and even automatically over the wireless network.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Originally posted by jfschultz

Originally posted by SemperFideles
You might be able to get away with a thumb drive if you have very little data (few large documents or pictures). If not then I recommend a hard drive over CD's and DVD's. DVD media is a slow method of backup and is actually a bit less reliable in the long run than hard drives. Based on the low failure rate of hard drives, it is a pretty secure way to have piece of mind by backing up your data to another hard drive. The odds that both are going to fail simultaneously is virtually nil.

Yikes. Glad you were able to preserve your data.

I was mindful of the "inexpensive" issue. The cost of an external DVD burner would be as much (or more) as one of the hard drives above.

I agree, and use a hard drive for my backups. However, Jessica's original post expressed money concerns, and is why I suggested CD's or DVD's.

I recently lost the hard drive in my laptop. (There was the clicking noise of physical damage.) Because the shop indicated that there was also a logic board problem, it got replaced. It turns out that the old laptop works well using the external drive I used for backups. So I am in the process of setting it up as a file server so backups can be done easily and even automatically over the wireless network.

 

[Puddleglum]

Thanks guys . . . I guess I've got to do some research now!

BTW, how would I go about finding where my emails are stored? Also, if I did find out, and made a back-up, would I even be able to access them that way, since I have to log into MSN whenever I want to get to them?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I would browse your Documents and Settings folder until you find them.

In one forum someone said they are here.

C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR NAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\MSN\db

You need to change your folder settings to view hidden folders first. Go to Help and search for the topic "show hidden folders"

 

[rmhainlen]

The amount of info she is talking about she doesnt even need that large of a external HDD. Even a 1GB memory stick would be fine. Today I saw a 2GB memory stick for $23. That would easily back up everything she has and more.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Ryan,

It helps if you read the entire to get perspective. First, she's not certain about the size of her mailbox. Secondly, she is uncertain about how to restore her computer from a total data loss. An external HDD is a much better backup solution than Compact Flash (especially when $$/MB is factored in). Pay $76 now for 40 GB or storage or pay $23 for 2GB and have to upgrade when data requirements exceed that...easy choice for me.

2 GB is how much the memory card on my digital camera holds and I can fill that up in a couple of months.

 

[rmhainlen]

Okay,
I had never seen a 40 GB external hdd for $76, but anyways.
I did indeed read the entire thread. (granted 1:50 am)
From what I gathered though, it did not sound like she would be backing up a ton of info. I could easily compress most of my emails but this must be an easy backup as I see from the title.
The 40 GB would most likely back up her entire computer. I was just thinking why spend the extra money when something a tad smaller would do the job just fine.

I back up my pc onto a secondary internal HDD.

Edit:
I love newegg. Actually you can find 40GB for like $60 after rebate.

[Edited on 26-6-2006 by rmhainlen]

 

[fredtgreco]

Here is the best of these deals:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A0615994&cs=19&c=us&l=en

250GB for $116 shipped. And it appears to be super easy to use.

 

[rmhainlen]

That is a very nice HDD.
But from a quick glance it doesnt appear to have one touch back-up which would be really good for someone who might not understand computers that well. Then in case her computer did crash it would all be there.
Otherwise it looks like an incredible HDD.