How to Back up all my Junk

	How to Back up all my Junk?? by The F@t Guy

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Replication

Getting Ready

What to Use

Backing up: Drive to Drive

Backing up: CD or DVD

updated 040307

Introduction:

"There are only two types of people in the world: Them that have lost data, and them that will."

With the advent of Windows Restore, most folks think they ARE backed up. Nothing could be further from the truth. Windows Restore has nothing to do with your data at all. It is designed for restoring operating system files, not your data.

Other folks might have engaged Windows Backup to create backups for them, but those backups are usually kept right in the same machine, on the same hard drive. What would happen to you if that hard drive crashed right now?

Did you know that Microsoft's Backup utility keeps all your data in a single file? How about the often forgotten fact that a small corruption in that file can cause the whole works to be unuseable? While on-machine backups might be kinda handy at times, you are never truly backed up until your data is somewhere else (uncompressed)- entirely off the machine, and I might add- entirely off the LAN too.

Unfortunately, backing-up is a considerable mystery to the folks. I think this is mainly because of the "one-step wonder" mentality of the tech world. This is truly a "different strokes for different folks" kind of game.

There really is no easy single answer to backing up. there are different solutions for different situations, based upon the following criteria:

1. Amount and Nature of the Data:

Obviously there are differing types of data (pictures are different than documents), but for the back-up exercise the differences are more about how valuable the data is to you. This differs greatly between people, so you need to assign the value(s) for yourself and pro actively figure out how to back it all up.

The amount of data (as measured in megabytes/gigabytes) also varies greatly. a backup solution for a bookkeeper whose entire data directory is less than 100 MB will not work for a video-phile whose library of movies is measured in tens or even hundreds of GB.

2. Available Resources:

"Available resources" would be the various means at your disposal which might be useful for back-up purposes. Most machines these days carry a writable CD ROM (CD-R or CD-RW) or DVD (DVD-R) drive. Some have zip-drives. You might have invested in an external drive or thumb (key chain) drive. These are all good backup solutions for different back-up types. But let's not forget another: In these days of DSL and Wireless networking, many people have multiple machines in the same house- if these machines are networked, that network becomes yet another very good back-up medium.

Your own ability to back up depends a lot on which of these (or other) you have already, or are willing to invest in.

3. Veracity of the Implementor:

Believe it or not, this is the most important one. YOU. Your ability to backup your machine in a regular fashion.

This is very much a study in human nature (your own), and calls for a merciless look at yourself and your real tendencies. If you tend to keep your socks in neat, orderly rows in the drawer, you will find the backup process a simple and enjoyable thing. If you tend to keep all your socks in a pile under the bed- well... then this is gonna suck.

I fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, as will most of you (I keep my socks under the couch).

For me, it is a considerable discipline to back up my critical data to a zip disk every day. All the rest of my stuff (and including my critical data) is automated... backed up across my local network on a daily basis, with a manual total backup across the network scheduled in my to-do list for the third Monday of every month. Once per quarter, I have a scheduled to-do to manually backup to CDs.

I know. I am unworthy. I (of all people) should be more aware and involved in the replication and storage of my data. I KNOW BETTER. But the truth is that I FAIL miserably when I attempt to take a stronger hand. I keep pushing it off. There is always something more important to do... and next thing I know, I havn't backed a thing for months.

Lucky for me, I do pay attention to my ToDos, providing they are not too onerous.

But that is what I am getting at- For me, the methods I employ are the best that I am likely to do, and give me a fairly reliable "situational norm". Barring the house burning down, it is unlikely that all of my seven boxes will fail at once, so I am safe enough for me.

You must do the same. Do not be fooled by your own first energetic stabs at it- a new broom sweeps clean. The methods you should settle into should be built around forming a very long term habit that you certainly WILL do... and you have to live with that.

So here we go- as always, the articles are in the sidebar.