Hi:
I also back up to an external hard drive. They are cheap and easy to move to another PC.
However, I have made my backups automatic, every time I boot the PC. I wrote a simple batch file and put it in STARTUP, so it executes every time I boot. The batch file is only one line, and I have a shortcut on my menu, in case I want to back up after a big change.
Since my backup only copys changed files, it usually runs in the blink of an eye. Here is the line I put in the batch file:

xcopy “c:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents” “e:\username\My Documents” /d/s/e/i/y

Of course, I put my username in place of the above. For multiple users, just modify the above for each user. As long as I remember to save everything in My Documents, I’m protected.

Every 6 mo or so, I do a image backup to DVD.

I have found that Carbonite (http://www.carbonite.com) has given me a great automated offsite backup. They do place limits on the file size (like 2gb) and they exclude applications, but they have no limit on the total space I use. The cost is $50/yr but for me the peace of mind that my pictures and other files are safely stored someplace in cyberspace is more than worth it.

Hi Catherine,

I employ virtually the same system with the minor difference that I use a removable rack in a spare drive bay so I don’t have the clutter and inconvenience of an external drive to deal with. It features a cylinder lock & key mechanism which breaks the power and data cable connections when it’s in the OFF position. I’ve been using this system for about fifteen years now and you’re right: there’s nothing better.

Like most people (who bother to do backups at all) I used to do incremental backups of my DATA ONLY–but this kind of procedure gets to be SO cumbersome to manage! Why bother, considering the availability of today’s large, cheap, fast hard drives?

The other possible difference is that I’ve long had my hard disk partitioned. My current, 250 GB drive is partitioned like this…

C: OS & Apps (40 GB)
D: Temp (30 GB)
E: User (80 GB)
F: Music (25 GB)
G: ROM-CDs (75 GB)

This strategy allows me to back up only the partition(s) indicated, which is: 1) faster, and 2) saves space on the backup drive.

Here’s a more detailed analysis of my partitions…

C: self-explanatory

D: temp files (system scratch, registry backups, OE email folders, IE5 temp files, system log files) and user works-in-progress (files being edited)

E: any and all user files besides MP3s (completed WIP files from D: are migrated to E: when they’re finished)

F: MP3s

G: hard-copied CD databases I want quick access to (telephone directories, street atlases, clipart galleries, technical publications on disc, etc.)

I back up C: religiously every couple of days, or–like you–immediately AFTER (or just BEFORE) something really important…like just AFTER having installed (and possibly highly configured) a major piece of software with hooks all over the system, and ESPECIALLY just BEFORE installing such an application. That way if unexpected consequences land you in doo-doo you can restore your system to EXACTLY the state it was in just prior to the installation, which is not entirely possible doing a system restore. (BTW: the system restore cache is a favorite place for malware to hide so if you don’t need to use this service you’re better of without it anyway.)

It’s easy to understand the value of this kind of partitioning strategy if you consider the massive amount of absolutely static data residing on my G-drive. The data on this drive NEVER CHANGES (unless I copy another disc to it), so why copy it over and over again to the backup drive? –especially considering the fact that it contains nearly as much data as all the other drives combined.

Same with the music on F:, i.e., since I’ve already got most of the music I want this drive changes very little from week to week, and I could easily download or re-rip the few songs I might lose if it ever came down to that.

I’ve also migrated every dynamic OS and application database file that can be migrated to locations on D: so that the latest copies of them are preserved there instead of on C: in the event I’ve got to restore a few-days-old copy of C: (so I don’t lose any changes since then). This includes any database whose software provides the ability to point to a folder other than the default folder in which the application is initially set to look for the file, like Internet Explorer’s “Temporary Internet Files,” Outlook Express’s “Local Folders” and most log file outputs. If, for example, it becomes necessary to restore a two-day-old backup of C: you would (unless you resorted to the manual backup technique I’ll explain next) lose all your emails, cookies and TIFs since then when you did so. If the associated applications look for these files “off-campus” (i.e. on another drive) you don’t need to worry about losing the most recent changes.

Since I hate to lose ANYTHING, for the rest of these highly dynamic files which don’t allow for the specification of an alternate folder I keep a checklist of them in a Word document with hyperlinks to their respective locations on my hard drive. That way I can manually back them up to my D-partition just before performing the restore, then manually copy them back to their appropriate locations on C:, overwriting the two-day-old versions after they’ve been restored. These files include Word’s “normal.dot” template, Windows’ “custom.dic” spell-check file, the Windows Address Book “username.wab,” ClipCache’s “clipcache.db” database, etc. Tracking these files down initially can be somewhat arduous but it’s nothing anyone reading this column is incapable of. All you need to do is think about what’s changing (like an unfamiliar word being added to Outlook’s spell-check) and track it down. (In this case if you didn’t know which file contained such custom words you could do “A word or phrase in the file” search for the word you just added.) Or you can consult an application’s Program Files folder and do a listing by DATE to locate the most highly dynamic files.

A Word checklist with active links to such files allows me to easily locate and back them up prior to doing a drive/partition restore so I can replace them over their older counterparts after completing the restoration.

[Yes–I know I could write a batch file or script that SHOULD do this automatically, but I’ve never been brave enough to trust such a routine without seeing that the files have actually been backed up. I’ll bet at least some of you still open folders to which you’ve ostensibly copied a file before deleting the source, just to make absolutely sure it’s there?]

Finally (and this may be obvious): I make IMAGES of my primary disk partitions rather than COPIES. They’re smaller, so they write faster and take up less space on the backup drive–allowing you to keep multiple generations of backups on a drive which needn’t be as large as the primary…even as it’s close to being full. Also, such imaged archives (essentially massive zipfiles) are more impervious to infection by malware which targets specific locations on the drive since such locations aren’t apparent from outside the archive, and an infection accidentally trapped within it is held benign until the archive is restored. Thus, if a previously unidentified infection zaps your primary drive (while the backup drive is disconnected) you’d know to scan for it on the backup drive before attempting a restoration.

Thanks for your article, and: SAFE COMPUTING!

I use ACRONIS to backup my WHOLE C:\ drive
I put it on all of my relatives PCs as well.
I set it up to run weekly.
1 FULL backup originally and then incrementals afterwards.
It dumps the IMAGE to another separate internal drive and offers a BOOT LOAD menu in case Windows does. Or a boot cd/floppy.
All of my important converted old videos from my family have been copied to DVD and shipped off to my Sis in Tahiti as my offsite location.
I like Acronis soo much that I implemented it at work on our servers as well. Has a great remote agent.
repeat after me BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP - I will BACKUP

Acronis True Image does work. External hard drive seems so right that I set that up a few years ago. Have had 3 major crashes in the past and in each case the “true image” put me back where I was before the crash. As I use a laptop as my main computer I can’t just move the external hard over. I also used it when I replaced the 40 gig drive with a 160 gig recently and “true Image” worked very well.

Backup Backup Backup

My wife’s brother just replaced her hard drive with a 300 Gig one and
told her all about how to maintain it and about making backups. Think
that worked. I imagine by the time this puppy crashes, she might learn
a lesson.

The last one that crashed and burned had only info that I had stored
on one small portion of it and that info was all that was recoverable.
Go figure. Her info was toast. One unhappy camper.

I used to work for a druggist back in the early 90s and his thing was
having the newest and fastest computer available to run his operation.
I asked him once about it, not knowing much about computers at the
time and his only reply was that it only helps one to make small errors
even quicker and faster and harder to recover from. I guess in the Drug
Store business, that could be a bit tricky. He did nightly backups on
his system to a tape drive. That taught me, but not wifey.

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