laptop backup

[Bill Douglas]

My laptop went a bit whacky and I think I was lucky to get it up and running again

Which makes me think I should have a backup system in place when thinking what a PITA it is to reload applications plus all those (stupid) pictures I've saved from here and there.

It is a Vista machine and I've used less than 100GB. I was thinking of one of those Western Digital USB storage things that are about 500GB and Ghosting a copy of the entire system onto it. I see that Seagate do a similar thing but is cheaper, but I have been (historically) suspicious of the quality of Seagate disks.

What are your thoughts and should I be doing something different. You help is much appreciated

[azasadny]

Just get an external hard drive (any brand) and use whatever software you choose to back everything up. Store the backup hard drive in your safe and update the backup as often as you want, but keep it in a safe place and test the backup once in awhile to be sure you can recover what you've backed up. I use Acronis True Image Home 2012, but there are many, many backup programs out there.

[Joeaksa]

I can buy a 2 TB USB drive here when they are on sale for less than $100.

Get something like that and back it up now. Then when you have some time copy the backup to another computer or external drive.

[Evans, Marv]

Joe, is that from a computer store or where? I haven't heard of 2 TB USB drives. I'm probably behind times. I could use one myself.

[cstreit]

Lots of big external drives with built in sync software. $100-$150 saves you.

[Bill Douglas]

Thanks Guys. I'm thinking of disaster recovery only type backup. On to a new hard disk or new laptop so it's own software would be good. Something that says "Dear Sir, I see your operating system is f'ed. Would you like to restore your complete image backup to a new hard disk?" That sort of thing.

[Z-man]

Get a MAC and use Time Machine backups. Probably the most intuitive consumer level backup software out there. And it comes with the OS!

(I started using Time Machine backups right after the hard drive failed in Mrs. Z-man's Mac Book Pro. Sometimes it takes a disaster to develop a DR plan...)

-Z-man.

[RedBaron]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Thanks Guys. I'm thinking of disaster recovery only type backup. On to a new hard disk or new laptop so it's own software would be good. Something that says "Dear Sir, I see your operating system is f'ed. Would you like to restore your complete image backup to a new hard disk?" That sort of thing.

You could try Norton Ghost with a fresh install of windows with your applications and settings to make a backup. Then store the image on an external and use the Windows 7 built in backup suite to copy all of your other personal files. I'm not 100% sure if this would work correctly or how the new version of Ghost has changed, since the organization I work for in the summer had me dump Ghost and build a WDS imaging server for all of our imaging needs.

Originally Posted by Z-man

Get a MAC and use Time Machine backups. Probably the most intuitive consumer level backup software out there. And it comes with the OS!

(I started using Time Machine backups right after the hard drive failed in Mrs. Z-man's Mac Book Pro. Sometimes it takes a disaster to develop a DR plan...)

-Z-man.

+1 Time Machine is flawless.

[RWebb]

Win 7 is said to do what Time Machine does

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Joe, is that from a computer store or where? I haven't heard of 2 TB USB drives. I'm probably behind times. I could use one myself.

Any good computer store will have these. You are not in the states so cannot give you store names but good computer outlets and online places have them.

Here in the states is a 1.5 TB external for $129...

FRYS.com*|*Western Digital

Keep an eye on sales and you can usually find them for a good $50 cheaper.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Win 7 is said to do what Time Machine does

Yep and all easy driven. Do a system image also a backup (two different things). At the minimum get 2 external drives as mentioned above. One in the safe and one clones the other.

[on2wheels52]

Could someone provide what the exact command is to accomplish a complete backup?
Will all the drivers be on it?
Jim

[id10t]

Apps will need to be reloaded - on top of scattering files all over, the registry entries, etc. are a pain to re-do. But, do back up your personal data - bookmarks, pictures, etc. Unfortunately hard drive prices are at a temporary spike right now...

[dennis in se pa]

It's your data that's important. The OS and apps are nothing. I use dropbox.com. You get to have your data backed up and can actually duplicate it on several computers. And a certain amount is FREE so you can try it out.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

It's your data that's important. The OS and apps are nothing. I use dropbox.com. You get to have your data backed up and can actually duplicate it on several computers. And a certain amount is FREE so you can try it out.

Dropbox is very good as are other "cloud" sites. I use Amazon Cloud and they give you 5 gig of storage and thats excellent for a lot of documents and photos that are first backed up and second available anywhere you can access the internet.

Joe

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by id10t

Apps will need to be reloaded - on top of scattering files all over, the registry entries, etc. are a pain to re-do. But, do back up your personal data - bookmarks, pictures, etc. Unfortunately hard drive prices are at a temporary spike right now...

PC hard drives are but NOT EXTERNAL drives. No shortage of externals and all big retailers have bargains. Picked up a 2 terabyte Hitachi for $59 at Frys. They have skidloads. I just noticed 2 TB compact flash drive HP brand at Office Max for $99. It even has USB 3.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Dropbox is very good as are other "cloud" sites. I use Amazon Cloud and they give you 5 gig of storage and thats excellent for a lot of documents and photos that are first backed up and second available anywhere you can access the internet.

Joe

The cloud alternative is excellent especially for traveling out of the country. I use a mix of providers and really pleased with the free Microsoft Live. They also have a free cloud basic MS Office and works transparent with a regular version. But getting back to cloud storage, if by chance a border patrol gets goofy and you don't want to physically carry anything or even if you wish to carry a laptop, you can still access any of your files from anywhere but nothing important is physically on you.

Now for some creativity and unlimited cloud storage, just create multiple accounts. I actually use some of the free cloud services and use as page website host... never a monthly fee and unlimited.

Enough from me. Good luck.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

PC hard drives are but NOT EXTERNAL drives. No shortage of externals and all big retailers have bargains. Picked up a 2 terabyte Hitachi for $59 at Frys. They have skidloads. I just noticed 2 TB compact flash drive HP brand at Office Max for $99. It even has USB 3.

Sadly I'm in the middle of building a few storage servers w/ 4-8tb of RAID-5 storage on 'em. Fortunately we ordered a bunch of 2tb SATA drives back in June... so I can do it.

[cgarr]

I just purchased a new internal drive for my laptop and a usb cable which comes with the software to clone or mirror your current drive. Just pop in the new drive and away you go. I actually didn't buy it to backup but I needed a larger drive at the time.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by on2wheels52

Could someone provide what the exact command is to accomplish a complete backup?
Will all the drivers be on it?
Jim

For Win 7??


The easiest way to invoke the Backup and Restore applet is to type backup into the Start menu's search box.