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Backing Up Personal Computers


Backup on business computers is typically not the user's concern unless it's a small business. A business should have a policy in place for managing backups especially due to Sarbanes - Oxyley.

Four options for backing up:

  • External hard drive
  • CD-RW (CD rewriteable) drive
  • Tape
  • Network server

Two options for what to back up:

  • Everything
  • Data files (.doc, .xls, .db, .ppt, .txt, etc.)

Personally, I use an external hard drive (this is a 120 gig hard drive, they also have 20 gig, 40 gig, 60 gig, and 80 gig available. I suggest getting one that is 20 gigs bigger than your hard drive.). It saved me when my computer had to be reformatted a few months ago. Typically, the hard drive is supposed to be rebootable and load everything back exactly as it was before the crash.

Obviously, that didn't happen. It worked out for the best because some of my system files were bad. The hard drive still had my data files and programs. First, I referred to my latest copy from Belarc Advisor. This is a free program that lists all the applications on your computer. Since I don't have a CD of every program I use, this was handy.

Using this list, I reloaded all applications first starting with the most important working down to the least important. It takes time to load everything, so you won't want to reload everything in one sitting.

As soon as an application was reloaded, I copied all of its data files from the external hard drive back on the computer. I try to keep all of my data files in as minimal folders as possible. That is where My Documents, My Music, and My Photos comes in handy, but I hate those names. For the most part, I have /docs, /media (with subfolders for music and photos), /sites (for Web-related docs).

Keeping data files in as few folders as possible makes it easier to keep them organized and to find them when you need to restore data.

Programs like Norton's Ghost, AlohaBob, and NTI Backup Now are useful for creating and managing back ups.

Using a RW-CD and tape back up are also viable solutions. I prefer the external hard drive since I don't have to use an external media like a tape or CD. No sitting around and waiting for the CD or tape to fill up and inserting the next one.

Thumb drives (portable hard drives) are helpful, but typically can't hold enough if you have as much data as I do. It's great for critical data and data that you need at all times.

When buying a USB drive, make sure you have USB 2.0 not 1.1 as most the drives require 2.0.

At a minimium, back up your data files - the products of your work. Have a copy of these file somewhere other than your hard drive. Ideally, I'd like to back up my data on a network server because:

  • if my house were on fire (ptpthpthpth), the files are safe on a server located somewhere else.
  • if the computer goes crazy and ruins everything in its path including the back up hardware, the files are safe on a server.

However, storage is not cheap enough for personal use just yet. I am sure it's one of the future options we can expect to become a regular part of safe computing.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.


MORE RESOURCES:

Data Recovery - Google News

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Improved data recovery from SSDs - Help Net Security


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Kroll Ontrack Announces New SSD Recovery Capabilities - StorageReview.com


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Atlanta Falcons Draft Venyu for Off-Site Data Backup and Recovery - MarketWatch (press release)


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BATON ROUGE, LA and MARLBOROUGH, MA, Feb 07, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Venyu today announced that the Atlanta Falcons have implemented its off-site data backup and recovery solution, RestartIT. Venyu's cloud-based offering delivers reliable ...

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Announcement of Newly Released Remo Repair PowerPoint for Windows - Sacramento Bee


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In the Wake of Natural Disasters, KineticD Provides Luce, Schwab and Kase, Inc ... - Sacramento Bee


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7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --KineticD™, known for its cloud backup and data recovery services designed for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced that Luce, Schwab and Kase, Inc. utilized KineticD's services to keep its data flowing and its ...

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Megaupload: Is time running out for data recovery? - Social Barrel


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Megaupload: Is time running out for data recovery?
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Because the servers are of hosting companies Carpathia and Cogent, the decision about data recovery depends upon them, prosecutors highlighted. Meanwhile, while reacting to matter Carpathia has said that they don't have and never had access to contents ...
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