Backing Up Your Computer By Eric Moore

Types of Backups Drive Imaging File Backups

Disk Imaging Copies an entire partition or hard drive to a single “image” file Saves to a hard drive, CD-R, CD-RW, etc. Can compress the data May allow you to restore individual files

Examples of Disk Imaging Products PowerQuest™ Drive Image® Now owned by Symantec Now owned by Symantec Symantec™ Ghost PARAGON™ Drive Backup NTI™ Drive Backup

Advantages & Disadvantages of Disk Imaging Advantages: Does not require booting Windows Does not require booting Windows Emergency restore Emergency restore Supports “cloning” of a hard drive Supports “cloning” of a hard driveDisadvantages: Slow Slow Inefficient for backing up only a few files Inefficient for backing up only a few files Can be dangerous if not used carefully Can be dangerous if not used carefully

Traditional File Backup – Basic Features Backing up specific files and folders Backing up an entire hard drive Compression Password protection Restoring to an alternative location

Additional Features Scheduler Windows registry backup Emergency restoration Packet writing for CD-R and CD-RW File filtering Include files Include files Exclude files Exclude files Modified files Modified files

Examples of File Backup Products AVANTRIX™ Backup Plus Dantz™ Retrospect My Own Backup (Free product) Stomp™ BackUp MyPC® NTI™ Backup NOW!® Microsoft™ Backup

About Microsoft Backup Free, no-frills backup utility Supported media: Tape Tape Hard disk Hard disk Zip disk Zip disk Preformatted CD-RW or CD-R Preformatted CD-RW or CD-R Floppy disk Floppy disk Does not support CD burning No file filtering using wildcards For example, specifying *.DOC for all Word documents For example, specifying *.DOC for all Word documents

Advantages and Disadvantages of File Backups Advantages: Efficient for very small backups (much less than the entire hard drive) Efficient for very small backups (much less than the entire hard drive) Ease of use (GUI) Ease of use (GUI) Inexpensive (Microsoft Backup) Inexpensive (Microsoft Backup)Disadvantages Restoring may require a bootable computer Restoring may require a bootable computer More capable products may be pricey ($50 or more) More capable products may be pricey ($50 or more)

Media Types and Their Costs (Prices from Cyberguys!) Media Type Cost per GB Floppy Disk $153 Zip 250 Disk $58 Tape $ $15.62 CD-R/RW $0.43 / $0.98 DVD $ $2.21 Hard Drive $0.70

My Backup Strategy Monthly backup Disk image using PowerQuest Drive Image Disk image using PowerQuest Drive Image Weekly backup Incremental using Microsoft Backup Incremental using Microsoft Backup Daily backup Limited incremental using Microsoft Backup Limited incremental using Microsoft Backup

Additional Thoughts on a Backup Strategy Don’t put it off! Make sure you can restore backed up data Keep redundant backups Two different discs Two different discs Two different media types (e.g. hard drive and CD) Two different media types (e.g. hard drive and CD) Off-site storage Online backup service Online backup service Safe deposit box Safe deposit box Nothing lasts forever Media could good bad Media could good bad Media may become obsolete (e.g., 5 ¼” disks) Media may become obsolete (e.g., 5 ¼” disks)

For More Information: My CUGG Article: CD-Recordable FAQ: DVD FAQ: