Poll: How do you back up your important data?

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

* In my poll, item #1 includes all external media, like floppy disks, flash drives, external USB hard drives, etc.
That's anything external to the internal hardware itself.

I was reading an article on ZDNet today and this was the first paragraph of the article.

Quote:

Somewhere right now as you’re reading this, there are computer users whose hearts are sinking as they look at their screens, waiting, hoping, some even praying, that their computers will safely reboot from a fatal error and everything that they have saved on the computer - letters, photos, emails, their latest presentations and project files - will magically reappear. For a lot of them, their hopes will be in vain.

It spurs me to ask "How do you back up your important data files?"

I'll give my own backup scheme in a later post.

The Doctor Cool

pasquanel · Joined: Jun 20, 2005 Posts: 506 Location: Maine

Quote:

It spurs me to ask "How do you back up your important data files?"

I got burned really good some years back and learned the lesson the hard way! I never save anything to the C: drive where the OS lives but to a second internal drive which I then backup once or twice a week to an external USB drive. Then I make incremental backups using Acronis True Image to another partition on the secondary drive. Every few months I burn everything to a DVD.
All of this only takes a few minutes with the possible exception of the DVDs. Cool

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

Both my husband and I use a combination. Files are stored on floppies (all are stored on two different floppies so we have a backup if the floppy dies), USB sticks, burned to a CD, and stored on an external hard drive.
If the files are important, we use two different ways to store the same (like external hd and burned to a CD).

In fact, nothing important is stored on any of our computers. I may put pictures there but they've been burned to a CD before I start to manipulate them.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

pasq, I applaud your diligence.

Zlim, most files and pictures today won't even fit on a floppy. Sad

Flash drives and DVD's will do the trick nicely, though.
Again, applause are in order.

You both have some workable backups scheme. That's great.
I'll wait a while longer before I give my own backup scheme.
It's a dilly!

Doc Cool

micker377 · Joined: May 27, 2005 Posts: 993

I alternate between an internal separate hard drive, and an external USB hard drive. The "poll" doesn't allow checking more than one button.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

Alternating locations for your backups is always a good idea, just in case one of those locations should fail.

In the case of a PSU going berserk and wiping out all the drives in a system, a backup on an external media would be the only backup that would be usable.
Likewise, if the computer was damaged by a lightning strike.

As for the poll, just pick the one you like the most.

The Doctor Cool

PS: Many years ago, I had a PSU fail and the 5v line went up to 10v, while the 12v line went up to over 20v. The motherboard was totally smoked!
One large chip on the mobo had the top blown off of it.
While the hard drive had chips literally blown off of the logic board.
The case was the only thing that lived through the ordeal. Wink

MDGnome · Joined: Aug 29, 2005 Posts: 21

My wife and I have our own PCs on a private LAN. AT 4am, I schedule a BAT file to robocopy her files to my PC and my files to her PC. Every few months I copy the backups to DVDs.

pbp33411 · Joined: Dec 01, 2006 Posts: 22

Nightly I back up my email, desktop, my documents, and my photos using allway sync to an external drive, and then in turn sync that drive to a second external drive. Weekly I create archival backups of a few other areas of the disk that change less often. Monthly over a four night period I duplicate the second external drive to a third external drive that is off-line most of the time.

Included in my documents is a set of files pulled from a second pc that my wife uses for her email, including all her email, so her email is backed up nightly as well as mine. All of this process is automated, so all I have to remember is to plug in the third external drive near the end of the month and unplug it a week later.

I use Belarc Advisor to list what programs I have installed, so if I ever have to reconstruct a system I have a guidebook. Also, about every three months or so (well, OK, it won't happen now until November, four months from the last time) I make a clone of my C drive. This is a lengthy process that I do only in case my C drive blows up. My C drive and the backup drive are supposed to be identical drives, so a fifteen minute drive swap will have me back up in fifteen minutes ready to do three months of windows updates and other software updates. I use Secunia PSI to verify that I'm up-to-date. I actually had to do the drive swap/windows update/Secunia PSI thing last January, and was surprised that it took over a day to get everything right again. Then I had to buy a new drive, so right now my C drive clone has a 20G unused partition on it.

Nisseviking · Joined: Aug 04, 2004 Posts: 47

I have a notebook which I use mainly for my business and a desktop,where I in addition have my more private files (photos, music a.s.o)
Once a week I synchronize the business part of the notebook with the files in the desktop. That gives me two Identical copies should one of the machines fail.
Once a month I burn the whole business part onto 4 data DVD:s that I store in my bank safe out of my house. The reason for this is that if something really disastrous hits me (house burning down or a break in with both computers being stolen) I will still have all course material I need for my business as a trainer.
Then I clone both the notebook and the desktop hard disks to an external hard disk that is only switched on for those occasions.
After cloning I do a thorough cleaning with AdAware, Spybot, CCleaner and Tonis Arts Easy Cleaner.
The cloning has actually saved my *ss a couple of times when some software no longer worked as before for some obscure reason. Instead of trouble shooting I just restore the image from the external drive. A matter of c:a 45 min.

goretsky · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:28 pm Post subject:

Hello,

I have a primary desktop computer and a primary notebook computer whose hard disk drives are partitioned into multiple disk volumes. The OS is on the first disk volume, applications on the second, data on the third and so forth. Both the operating system and the applications have been tweaked to save their data files on the third disk volume, the E: drive.

When I am done using whichever computer I am on for the day I back up the E: volume to an external hard disk drive. In this case, a 2.5" ATA drive in a combination USB 2.0/FireWire 800 (IEEE-1394a)/eSATA enclosure I purchased on eBay.

At this point, I have a current set of all my data on the computer I was just using, as well as on the external hard disk drive.

When I go to the next computer, I start my computing session by sync'ing its internal hard disk drive with the external hard disk drive.

At this point, I now have current set of data on the computer I was using earlier, the external hard disk drive and the computer I am now on.

Any changes made during the current computing session get backed up and the process repeats itself in reverse-order, with the data being sync'ed to the external disk drive and then the other computer.

In addition to this process, which might occur twice a day, I have a DVD±RW DL drive in both my primary desktop and primary notebook computers which read and write to DVD-RAM discs, and also a 4mm DDS DAT tape backup drive in my primary desktop.

Periodically, I backup the data to optical disc or tape. The exact schedule varies, but usually it is a couple of times a week.

Once in a while, I will store a backup off-site (different part of the state) or off-region (in a different state) so that in the event I cannot get to a backup due to a regional problem (natural disaster, et cetera) there is a semi-recent copy available in another location. These types of backups might occur quarterly or less, depending upon when I travel.

For disk-to-disk synchronization, I use 2BrightSparks' SyncBackSE program. A trial version is available from the author's web site.

For disk-to-DVD and for tape, I use NovaStor's NovaBackup. I believe a trial version is available from the author as well.

Both programs seem to run fine under both the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions of Microsoft Windows Vista.

I also have (and use) Acronis True Image, but I view it more as an imaging tool for hard disk drive migrations or to install a baseline configuration on to computers for testing software. For those purposes, it has worked exceedingly well for me.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

You all can't imagine how happy it makes me, that the "I don't backup at all" poll option is still sitting at Zero percent.

For years, I've been telling people on this and at least a dozen other forums, to BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP. Read my signature line.

It really does my heart good to see that everyone, so far, has at least some form of backup.

But I have a few questions.
If you're sitting there at your PC, just having a ball, doing whatever it is you do for your own enjoyment, and all of a sudden you hear this sickening screaming sound from inside your computer and it grinds to a halt.......and your hard drive has just shot craps, , , what do you do next?

If your answer is, "I look for my Windows Install Disk",,,,,,,, that's the wrong answer.

I said that I would give my own back up strategy later and I will.
But not today. Rolling Eyes

What I've said for the longest time is that when your computer goes up in a big ball of fire and smoke, you need some way to totally rebuild your data base from reliable backups from some impervious media.
More on that later.

The Doctor Cool

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

Well here is what I do...
I have two drives in my machine, one holds the OS the other is for DATA & BACKUPS. I IMAGE my OS drive to the DATA drive & copy the whole thing to an external HD. (actually, there are 2) This way if something goes wrong (as DOC pointed out - HD crash) - I can quickly & easily put it back in a matter of minutes - (provided I have another HD)

Critical stuff, for long term / never to change / permanent storage, go on cd's or dvd's but I must admit, it gets hard to find the time to burn them. (especially since my burner no longer works & I have to use one on another machine) But I practice enough REDUNDANCY that they had better be safe as it is. (if not, I'm gonna rethink my backup plan) Very Happy

Also, (an afterthought) since I can't for reasons I'd rather not go into here, put my backups off site, am planning sometime in the future to get a media safe. IF, I can find one that they will guarantee will protect my media!!!

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

That's one of the best schemes that I've read. There is some redundancy and a plan for a quick restore, should the main HD crash.

So few people have options of where to put their backups. Crying or Very sad

For instance, an older computer with just one HD, in just one partition and no DVD burner. The best options for that person is an external HD or a Flash drive large enough to hold a compressed image of their C: drive.

Although, for a few of my customers, I've partitioned their C: drive and installed a new DVD burner. They may still not back up anything, but at least they can if they want. Rolling Eyes

Off site backup storage can be as simple as taking the DVD to a trusted neighbor or relative, or as complex as taking it to the bank and putting it in a Safe Deposit Box.

I split the difference, by taking my backup DVD's to a friend's office about 20 miles away and storing them in his fireproof vault.
I make my DVD's with Ghost, run from a floppy disk, so Ghost installs itself on the first DVD, making it bootable. More on that later.

Doc Cool

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

I feel I MUST post this...

For those thinking of putting there media in a personal safe (one not at a bank) please note that there IS a difference in safes. A standard one will NOT protect media as it will get hot inside. What you need is a MEDIA safe, designed for media & has the means to keep the contents cool. - of course, all are not created equal so check them out & get a guarantee that they WILL work.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

That would only be pertinent, if the safe is being kept in the same building (home) along with the source computer.
It it's OFF SITE it really isn't all that important.
If the off site location burns down and the DVD's are lost.....no big deal, because your computer and all its data are still safe. More DVD's can be made and stored elsewhere.

I've said to my friends and customers, for more years than I really want to remember, that the best backup is the one that is NOT in the same building with the computer.

I've seen people and even businesses, make a backup to floppy disks and/or CD/DVDs and then put them in a little plastic box right next to the computer.
Really.......how safe is that? Rolling Eyes

If there's a fire, the backup disks will be the first thing to go, then the computer.

Around here, there is always the lightning, tornadoes and even hurricanes to worry about. In every hurricane to hit Florida, thousands of computers were lost. I mean, like GONE forever..... never to be seen again.
Heck, even the buildings they were in, were never seen again!!! Evil or Very Mad

And we can easily see 10,000 lightning strikes in an afternoon thunder storm.

A computer is easy to replace, not so with the data that it held.

Doc Cool

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

Your point is VERY well taken & I agree, but I was referring more to trusting the type of safe to protect its contents than where it was. Isn't that the whole point of having it in the first place? - & yes, once again REDUNDANCY is the key. - Wink

---A "backup" that is "trash" is worse than NO backup!--- (at least with no backup, you know where you stand) Crying or Very sad

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

I've been setting up backup schemes for 29 years now, for individuals, Banks and Corporations..... and believe me when I say, "It DOES matter where the backups are kept".
No argument intended, just lots of experience, both good and bad.

Do you remember the old desktop computers, with the monitor sitting on top?
I was once called to try to recover whatever I could from the hard drive on such a PC that was in a fire, at a large Insurance Company.
The backup disks, sitting next to the computer were long gone and the monitor itself was melted down over the PC like hot fudge on a Ice Cream Sunday. After I removed the monitor with hammer and chisel, I finally got into the case and was able to extricate the hard drive. It was black with smoke and a bit damp. I removed the logic board from the drive and thoroughly cleaned it. After getting the drive back together, I fired it up as a slave on my own PC and was able to access all the data files.

The manager at that company was ecstatic when I presented him with all his data on floppy disks and his old hard drive in an anti-static bag.
I was adequately compensated! Wink

That disaster had a happy ending, but that's not always the case.

Had that office manager taken the backup disks home with him each night, my services would not have been required.

Just a bit of history........

The Doctor Cool

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

DITTO - no argument - just wish I COULD store stuff off site.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

Edit:

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636