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Backup, Backup,
Backup,
we can't stress this enough. The frequency of your backups should be
directly proportionate to the value of your data. If it is priceless...back up
every day! A general rule of thumb is to back up at least once a week for
general data, word processing documents, pictures etc. For accounting data we recommend
backing up every time you add new information to your books. Quicken
and QuickBooks have a backup command right on the File menu....so no excuses!
If you don't know how to backup, learn. Everything you need to know is right
here on this page print it out now for your reference if you like.
How often should you back up?
How important is your data? If it is very important then backup
frequently, if it is not important to you then backup less often. When was the last time you backed up? You should
ask yourself that question at least once a week.
Loss of data is something that is ignored until it happens to you, then it is a
critical emergency. We see this happen on a daily basis at NTI.
People who do not back up until it is too late often losing years worth of work!
If your computer blew up right now, how difficult would it be to replace all the
information that you have stored in it? Think about it for a minute. Don't
wait until it is too late.....get on a stringent backup regimen and stick to
it. You will be glad you did when something goes wrong.
Who is responsible for your data?
You are. Although you may have a computer technician help you set up the
hardware and maybe even help configure your backup software, it is your sole
responsibility to make sure that it works every day, not the technician. You
must verify that your backup is working do not take it for granted. If you lose
data it is because you are not verifying your own backups, not because a
technician did something wrong. They can not be there every day to make sure
your backup is working it is up to you.
Automate the Task
Automating the task of backing up takes the worry out of it. For example you can schedule your computer to do a backup every Friday night
at 11:00pm. The best part is you don't have to be there....it will launch
automatically. Set your Windows Task Scheduler to launch your backup
utility for you. Make sure you "Spot Check" your backup whether they
are automated or not !
Which Backup
Program to use
Windows Backup utility comes preinstalled with Windows XP and works very well.
It is easy to understand and utilizes a very
simple interface so it is easy to do. Wizards walk you through the process
and restoring is a breeze. A built in scheduler allows you to automate the task
if you wish even across a network. To do this you must assign a password (if you
don't already have one) to the "Backup User".
It is extremely important that whoever is doing the backups up also understands
the backup program that is being used.Windows Vista and Windows 7 (for
some unknown reason) dropped this great backup utility that was used in Windows
XP. They both have a backup program but it uses a much more complex process
called imaging, which most computer users will not understand. That said, there
are other ways to backup for example:
Drag and Drop Method: The process of simply dragging a copy of
your data over to an external storage device such as an external hard drive,
or USB drive. You can also ask your computer guy to install an extra backup
drive INSIDE your computer. It would show up as an additional drive letter
in your MyComputer area. This process is the same regardless of what you are
storing to. Read more below.
Offsite Backup Services: Services such as Carbonite (www.carbonite.com)
and others really automate the process for you. You pay a flat annual fee
for unlimited data storage and it is truly a set it and forget it setup. It
works very well and if you need to retrieve your data at anyt point, just
login to your Carbonite account and it walks you through the restore
process.
Media
There are also many media types to choose from depending on how big your
data files are. Common media types are Zip drive, CDRW, ORB drives, and
external
hard drives.
These are listed in descending order relative to their size. For
example if your data set is small a Zip drive available in sizes from 100MB to
750MB and the time of this writing. If you are a business and data files are
much larger, then an external hard drive may be for you. NTI custom builds these
drives to suit your requirements. It houses a regular hard drive just like the
one that is in your laptop (2.5") or desktop (3.5") so you can get a
very large size hard drive big enough to back up your entire hard drive. The
best part is that most of them are connected through USB 2.0, USB 3.0 or eSATA (the
latter being much faster) making it very versatile and portable.
Reminders
Set a reminder to backup in your Outlook, or other scheduler so you don't forget to
backup.
Verify
Verifying your backup is as important as the
act of backing up itself. Too often businesses go for years assuming that
their backup is good, until it is late. The computer crashes and they
go to restore from their backup only to discover that is has not been backing up
like they thought....sometimes for months or years!. Case and point.
Check your backup media, i.e. ZIP, Orb drive, tape drive, external hard
drive...whatever it may be. Simply open up My Computer, navigate to the location
of your backup set, and just look at the date and file size of your last backup.
Get in the habit of doing this regularly to avoid disaster.
Know where you data is stored
Which leads me to my next point,
know where your important data is at
all times! At any given time you should be able to go right to the folder
that stores ALL of your data on your hard drive or network. If navigating is
difficult, learn how. NTI offers a workshop on how to navigate through your file
structure on your PC. No matter how good you think you are at the computer....if you can
not go directly to your data you have something to learn. Also see
Files, Folders and Directories article.
Outlook Users: Do you know where your PST is located?
Microsoft Outlook is one the most versatile and
widely used programs for contact management and business organization. All data
is centralized in one convenient location including, email, contact, schedules,
to do lists, memos and more. It has become a lifeline for businesses however
most people have no idea where their database file called, “outlook.pst”
is located. If you lose this file you have lost everything in
Outlook...everything.
Although this should be included in your regular backups, it is very often
overlooked. Find out where your PST file is located and know it at all times. In
XP for example it is located in: C:\Documents and Settings\Len2\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Could you have found that in the
even of a hard drive emergency? Probably not. To locate your PST file do a
search on your computer for “*.pst”. Record this location in your Outlook
as a Memo for future reference.
Some people prefer that the file be located in a more convenient location
such as MyDocuments. If you have a good understanding of navigation and file
structure within Windows go for it. Just remember that the next time you open
Outlook, it will be looking in the old location. You will have to tell it where
the new location of your PST file is located. For the navigationally challenged,
it is a good idea to let us help you with that. Also see Outlook.
Internet Explorer Favorites
Your favorites in Internet Explorer must be backed up separately
from your documents so don't assume your favorites will be saved automatically.
In XP Favorites are stored in a folder located at: C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Favorites. It will be in the same directory as
MyDocuments and will have a little gold star as the icon. Backing up your
Favorites is done in Internet Explorer as follows:
- Open Internet Explorer and click on File/Import Export to launch
the wizard.
- Next and Export Favorites
- Choose the root directory of Favorites to include all or a specific
subfolder if you choose the Next.
- Click Browse and navigate to a location where you will be able to
find this export. By default it puts it in your MyDocuments folder of
the current user that is logged on. Change the name if you like to MyFavorites
Backup so you will know what it is.
- Next your way to Finish and that is it. Go to that location and identify
the export for future use. You can now Use the same procedure with Import
to bring your favorites in or move to another computer.
Ok so we have made it way to easy for you to make any excuses....backup today!
Backing UP using Windows XP
Pro
Backup Utility
To backup files to a file or a tape
-
Open Windows Backup Utility (Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup). The Backup Utility Wizard starts by default, unless it is disabled.
- Click the Advanced Mode button in the Backup Utility Wizard.
- Click the Backup tab, and then, on the Job menu, click New.
- Specify the files and folders you want to back up by selecting the check
box to the left of a file or folder in Click to select the check box for
any drive, folder, or file that you want to back up.
- In Backup destination, do one of the following:
- Click File if you want to back up files and folders to a file.
This is selected by default.
- Click a tape device if you want to back up files and folders to a
tape.
- In Backup media or file name, do one of the following:
- If you are backing up files and folders to a file, type a path and
file name for the backup (.bkf) file, or click the Browse button
to find a file.
- If you are backing up files and folders to a tape, click the tape you
want to use.
- Specify any backup options you want, such as the
backup type and the log file type, by clicking the Tools menu, and then clicking Options.
When you have finished specifying backup options, click OK.
- Click Start Backup, and then make any changes to the Backup Job
Information dialog box.
- If you want to set advanced backup options such as data verification or
hardware compression, click Advanced. When you have finished setting
advanced backup options, click OK. For more information about
advanced backup options, see To
set advanced backup options.
- Click Start Backup to start the backup operation.
Important Notes
- You can use Backup to back up and restore data on either
FAT16, FAT32,
or NTFS
volumes. However, if you have backed up data from an NTFS volume
used in
Windows XP
, it is recommended that you restore the data to an NTFS volume used in
Windows XP
, or you could lose data as well as some file and folder features. Some
file systems might not support all features of other file systems. For
example, permissions, encrypting
file system (EFS) settings, disk quota information, mounted
drive information, and Remote
Storage information will be lost if you back up data from an NTFS
volume used in
Windows XP
and then restore it to a FAT volume or an NTFS volume used in Windows NT 4.0.
- To back up and restore Microsoft SQL Server database files, it is
recommended that you use SQL's built-in backup and restore utilities. For
more information, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.
- Some tape drives might not support hardware compression.
Notes
- You must be an administrator
or a Backup Operator to back up files and folders. For more information about
permissions or user rights. In addition you must have a password assigned
to this user if you want to schedule the backup. It will not start without
it.
-
To start Backup, click Start, point to All Programs, point
to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup.
- If the Backup and Recovery Wizard does not start by default, you can
still use it to back up files by clicking the Tools menu, and then
clicking Backup Wizard.
- If you want to back up your system, you should back up all the data on
your computer plus the System
State data, which includes such things as the registry
and the Active
Directory directory service database.
- You can only back up the System State data on a
local
computer. You cannot back up the System State data on a remote
computer.
- Backup files usually have the extension .bkf, although you can use any
extension.
- Backup operators and administrators can back up and restore encrypted
files and folders without decrypting the files or folders.
- If you have Windows Media Services running on your computer, and you
want to back up the files associated with these services, see
"Running Backup with Windows Media Services" in the Windows
Media Services online documentation. You must follow the procedures
outlined in the Windows Media Services online documentation before you can
back up or restore files associated with Windows Media Services.
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