Basic principles
It's always too late to make
a backup after
you need one. See this analysis so that you understand what can go wrong,
and then decide what you need
to back up.
Then use the four principles
below to implement
your backup process before it's
too late.
1st Principle: Organize your files so you can be sure you're backing
up all the files you want to protect. If
your files are scattered all over your hard
disk, you're bound to forget some of them.
You need to keep your backups organized too
or you'll never find the one you need when
you want it.
2nd Principle: Decide what you want to back up, and then make
your backups on a regular schedule. Also make a fresh backup before
and maybe just after critical operations,
e.g., installing or uninstalling programs.
3rd Principle: Put your backups somewhere else than your
primary hard drive. It may fail, taking your
backups as well as your original files with
it. Removable media is the traditional place
for backups, but a second hard drive is good
too.
An external hard drive may be better yet.
You can now get a 40 GB USB drive for around
$100. You may want to keep backups of critical
files in a separate place -- a safe deposit
box -- a friend's house -- somewhere where
fire, flood or other disaster won't get both
your computer and your backup. If you use
a hard drove, you may also want to burn those
precious files to CDs (orDVDs) once a month
or so.
4th Principle: Test your backups to see if they will work should you need
to recover something. If you don't know they
work now, chances are they won't work later
when you need them. Testing can be tricky.
You don't want to start overwriting perfectly
good files with backup files willy-nilly.
See tips for testing backups to learn how to do it prudently.
Your backup strategy and implementation should
fit your needs and aptitude. Use a checklist as the basis for your backup system. Locating
what you want to back up is another challenge.
Use these guidelines for locating and isolating the things you
want to back up.
How often should you make new backups? If
you're working on a complex document, it
might be before you make any big changes,
or every 10 minutes, whichever comes first.
You should also backup your system before
you make any significant changes to it. In
other words, make a new backup when there's
significant risk you'll lose work that has
not been recently protected with a backup.
System backup
Ordinary backup programs *cannot* back up
your "system". Your system consists
of Windows itself and some critical sectors
on your hard drive. These sectors do not
show up as files, and thus are not copied.
Windows will not allow programatic copying
of some of its files. The solution is full system backups using a program designed for the purpose.
I wouldn't be without one.
Backup help online
There's plenty of information about backup
online, but it's not easy to find unless
you know where to look. So... I'll point
some of it out for you: There's a good introduction to backup at About.com. ZDNet has a short
rundown on several nice backup solutions. Fred Langa has a comprehensive guide to backup at his site. Use the information you understand,
and come back for the rest for later.
Backup for email, particularly Outlook Express
is not obvious. "Inside OE Home" gives you the information you need
to back up your email, plus a whole lot more
about OE. If you don't use OE, you might
get some ideas for backing up email for the
alternative client you use.
There's other advice at [PC World] [About.com] [ZDNet] [CNET ].
BACKUP PROGRAMS
There are many backup programs
to choose
from. See the Backup Programs page. The most important thing -- no matter
what backup program you choose -- is to be
sure that you can restore your files when you need them. The only
way to do that is to test your backup and restore process carefully.
| BACKUP MEDIA |
| Diskette (floppy) |
Pro: Cheap, universal (but being phased out),
offsite storage is easy.
Con: Unreliable, small
capacity, slow, limited
life. |
1-3 yr life. |
| Tape Drive |
Pro: Large capacity, offsite storage is feasible.
Con: No random access,
slow, limited life. |
1-3 yr life |
| Zip Drive |
Pro: Fast, somewhat universal, offsite storage
is feasible.
Con: Expensive media, can
be prone to failure. |
2-10 yr life |
| CD-R |
CD-RW media doesn't make much sense any more.
Primarily because they are not as reliable
-- I've lost everything on a couple of them
for unexplained reasons. I now use CD-R only
(multi-session format). They're cheap (but
spend 80 cents, not 10 cents if you want
the most reliable ones).
Pro: Cheap media, large
capacity, long life,
offsite storage is easy.
Con: Slower than a hard
disk or Zip drive.
Note: Life depends on the
dye used. [more on life] |
3-30 yr life |
| Hard Disk |
A second hard disk is a very convenient place
to store backups.
Pro: Fast, with huge capacity.
Con: Not easy for the neophyte
to install.
Offsite storage is not
very feasible. |
2-10 yr life |
| External (USB) Hard Disk |
Another hard disk alternative. Read about my experiences before you rush out to buy one though.
Pro: Fairly fast with huge
capacity and easy
to install. Offsite storage
is feasible.
If you have one computer
at Happy Trails
and another at home, you
can use a USB drive
to shuttle all your files
between the two.
Con: The external case
and power supply add
about $120 to the basic
hard disk cost. |
2-10 yr life |
|