Thanks for the replies and help Joe & Earl. Joe, I will definitely do what
you stated.
Earl, I am not quite clear on the actual process of backing something up or
ghosting. I know what it means conceptually per se, I am just a little
leery/paranoid of the process because I am not sure if I actually have to buy
another HD to back my stuff up on or does the software do it internally? If
internally, how then will I be able to retrieve my old data if the system
totally crashes? I was reading over the links for both back up applications
and I am leaning towards purchasing the Acronis suite hopefully in the near
future. Is it really that easy to use? Keep in mind I am talking about
being able to retrieve all of my personal data with no problems and that, as
I am sure you can understand, is very important to me. My entire system
crashed almost a year ago due to a virus (much to my family’s dismay) and it
still ticks me off now. I had to recreate everything and I don’t want to
have to do that again. I have already figured out how to and have since
started copying all my family pictures, emails, IE favorites, music files,
ect, ect, over to individual CDs. I know it’s a bit cumbersome but for now I
feel somewhat satisfied that I can at least do that. And if I have to reload
everything back one disk at a time at least it is better than nothing, I
guess. So I just want to be sure about what actually goes into the recovery
process.
Sorry for the long winded explanation, I am just cautious and want do to
follow the process correctly while being pro-active and more responsible in
the care of my home pc at the same time.
Thanks again!