Sharon? Michael? Backups in XP

R

Regina

I'm running XP (Home Edition), I'm an intermediate
beginner; I'm pretty good at keeping my computer safe
from intruders (I've only "gotten" one fairly feeble worm
and one lame trojan in three years), and I don't use my
computer for anything terribly fancy (i.e., no MP3, no
file-sharing, no on-line gaming, no vidio-editing), just
surfing, e-mail, and about a dozen userboards/groups.

Right now, I have a few upgrades (including SP2) to
install on my computer, and I'd like to completely backup
*everything* first. I know (from asking around and
reading some answers here) that XP-Home edition doesn't
support much on its own -- i.e., it "backs up", but onto
the hard drive, and I want to do a TRUE back up onto an
external medium. I've researched the subject a bit, and
believe that I have four choices:

1. I have a CD burner and I could use the "back up"
function to backup to the hard drive and then copy the
backup file to a CD.

2. I could install the MSFT\NTBACKUP utility from the
Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM and use it.

3. Using Roxio Easy CD Creator, I can backup directly to
CD.

4. I could buy a back-up program or on-line back-up
service.

The way I see it, option three only saves documents, is
pretty slow, and probably most useful for interim back-
ups of folders in which documents or files have been
changed. And I feel that option four is really over-kill
for an un-networked, non-work related computer.

So, what would you advise? I want to keep this back-up
procedure as straightforward, but reliable, as possible.
Specifically, since I won't be doing this "entire system"
backup very often, I don't want to start using a
procedure so complicated or time-consuming that I "put it
off" until it's too late.

But I definitely need something which will save my
extensive bookmarks (favorites), and spare me having to
re-install everything with my preferences from scratch.

Thanks for your help in comparing possibilities.
 
G

Guest

Regina said:
I'm running XP (Home Edition), I'm an intermediate
beginner; I'm pretty good at keeping my computer safe
from intruders (I've only "gotten" one fairly feeble worm
and one lame trojan in three years), and I don't use my
computer for anything terribly fancy (i.e., no MP3, no
file-sharing, no on-line gaming, no vidio-editing), just
surfing, e-mail, and about a dozen userboards/groups.

Right now, I have a few upgrades (including SP2) to
install on my computer, and I'd like to completely backup
*everything* first. I know (from asking around and
reading some answers here) that XP-Home edition doesn't
support much on its own -- i.e., it "backs up", but onto
the hard drive, and I want to do a TRUE back up onto an
external medium. I've researched the subject a bit, and
believe that I have four choices:

1. I have a CD burner and I could use the "back up"
function to backup to the hard drive and then copy the
backup file to a CD.

2. I could install the MSFT\NTBACKUP utility from the
Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM and use it.

3. Using Roxio Easy CD Creator, I can backup directly to
CD.

4. I could buy a back-up program or on-line back-up
service.

The way I see it, option three only saves documents, is
pretty slow, and probably most useful for interim back-
ups of folders in which documents or files have been
changed. And I feel that option four is really over-kill
for an un-networked, non-work related computer.

So, what would you advise? I want to keep this back-up
procedure as straightforward, but reliable, as possible.
Specifically, since I won't be doing this "entire system"
backup very often, I don't want to start using a
procedure so complicated or time-consuming that I "put it
off" until it's too late.

But I definitely need something which will save my
extensive bookmarks (favorites), and spare me having to
re-install everything with my preferences from scratch.

Thanks for your help in comparing possibilities.
Click to expand...
Option 2 has been my choice. I am surprised that such a prudent computer
user as you describe yourself, you haven't been doing that all along. It is
an absolute necessity in the event of a hard drive failure.

Note that it doesn't back up system settings.

If you find that your CD doesn't have the program on it (some manufacturers
don't include it), you can download it from our computer Club's web site at:
http://www.myscacc.org/Forms/ntbackup.msi
 
B

BR549

My vote goes for #4. I use Ghost 2003. You could use it to make an image
of your hard drive to cds or cdrws. The nice thing about it is that when
you restore you are back to the exact state your computer was in when you
imaged. If you had to start over from scratch, think about how long it
would take you to reinstall all the programs you use and tweak all the
settings back to where you are now. Full imaging just makes things so much
simpler.

I'm running XP (Home Edition), I'm an intermediate
beginner; I'm pretty good at keeping my computer safe
from intruders (I've only "gotten" one fairly feeble worm
and one lame trojan in three years), and I don't use my
computer for anything terribly fancy (i.e., no MP3, no
file-sharing, no on-line gaming, no vidio-editing), just
surfing, e-mail, and about a dozen userboards/groups.

Right now, I have a few upgrades (including SP2) to
install on my computer, and I'd like to completely backup
*everything* first. I know (from asking around and
reading some answers here) that XP-Home edition doesn't
support much on its own -- i.e., it "backs up", but onto
the hard drive, and I want to do a TRUE back up onto an
external medium. I've researched the subject a bit, and
believe that I have four choices:

1. I have a CD burner and I could use the "back up"
function to backup to the hard drive and then copy the
backup file to a CD.

2. I could install the MSFT\NTBACKUP utility from the
Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM and use it.

3. Using Roxio Easy CD Creator, I can backup directly to
CD.

4. I could buy a back-up program or on-line back-up
service.

The way I see it, option three only saves documents, is
pretty slow, and probably most useful for interim back-
ups of folders in which documents or files have been
changed. And I feel that option four is really over-kill
for an un-networked, non-work related computer.

So, what would you advise? I want to keep this back-up
procedure as straightforward, but reliable, as possible.
Specifically, since I won't be doing this "entire system"
backup very often, I don't want to start using a
procedure so complicated or time-consuming that I "put it
off" until it's too late.

But I definitely need something which will save my
extensive bookmarks (favorites), and spare me having to
re-install everything with my preferences from scratch.

Thanks for your help in comparing possibilities.
 
W

William B. Lurie

Right, BR.....but I found Ghost hard to use, when
I tried it a couple of years ago. Drive Image is
simpler (but now, like Ghost, is Symantec-
owned, making it hard to get help with).
 
S

Sharon F

I'm running XP (Home Edition), I'm an intermediate
beginner; I'm pretty good at keeping my computer safe
from intruders (I've only "gotten" one fairly feeble worm
and one lame trojan in three years), and I don't use my
computer for anything terribly fancy (i.e., no MP3, no
file-sharing, no on-line gaming, no vidio-editing), just
surfing, e-mail, and about a dozen userboards/groups.

Right now, I have a few upgrades (including SP2) to
install on my computer, and I'd like to completely backup
*everything* first. I know (from asking around and
reading some answers here) that XP-Home edition doesn't
support much on its own -- i.e., it "backs up", but onto
the hard drive, and I want to do a TRUE back up onto an
external medium. I've researched the subject a bit, and
believe that I have four choices:

1. I have a CD burner and I could use the "back up"
function to backup to the hard drive and then copy the
backup file to a CD.

2. I could install the MSFT\NTBACKUP utility from the
Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM and use it.

3. Using Roxio Easy CD Creator, I can backup directly to
CD.

4. I could buy a back-up program or on-line back-up
service.

The way I see it, option three only saves documents, is
pretty slow, and probably most useful for interim back-
ups of folders in which documents or files have been
changed. And I feel that option four is really over-kill
for an un-networked, non-work related computer.

So, what would you advise? I want to keep this back-up
procedure as straightforward, but reliable, as possible.
Specifically, since I won't be doing this "entire system"
backup very often, I don't want to start using a
procedure so complicated or time-consuming that I "put it
off" until it's too late.

But I definitely need something which will save my
extensive bookmarks (favorites), and spare me having to
re-install everything with my preferences from scratch.

Thanks for your help in comparing possibilities.
Click to expand...

Regina, you have a pretty good grasp on what the options are. From here,
you need to try them out and then decide which is best for you. TIP: Try
different backup options using test folders and files. If you "goof up,"
your important data is still intact.

Straight copy of files: A simplistic but effective approach if you don't
have much to backup. Creates exact copies of the selected files and
folders.

Backup software: Allows you to create "jobs" and to designate which files
and folders should be backed up. This software will create a backup file
for each job. The backup program has to be used to restore files from the
backup set. Some effort is required to set up the jobs but otherwise this
is an easy and convenient route to go.

You mention full system backup in your message several times. Neither of
the above routines will make a "snapshot" of the entire system for
"disaster recovery" purposes. Instead they are intended for data recovery.

System recovery is more complex than data recovery. The software that is
available for this task reflects that - it is more complex as well. Review
different software packages in depth and then choose the program you're
most comfortable with. Most programs offer a trial. Using these, you can
check out the program's interface and check that the program is able to
communicate with your burner device.

NTBackup provides ASR. It works well in XP Pro. For XP Home, the readme
file for NTBackup says ASR is not supported for XP Home. Yet Microsoft has
a knowledge base article that describes how to run ASR on an XP Home
system. Whether it works or not, the opposition in the two advisories makes
me hesitate to recommend it for XP Home.

Acronis True Image is a nice software package that can perform data backups
or full system backups. It also has a nice interface for folks that are new
to backup software.

Image for Windows from Terabyte Unlimited: Also a nice interface. Not as
intuitive as Acronis but not terribly difficult to use if you read the
directions and view their tutorials. While not designed for data backups,
you can use an "explorer" type interface to grab individual files and
folders from a full system backup file.

Roxio doesn't really come into the picture unless you're going to do
straight copies of data (files and/or folders) or if you're going to use it
to burn a file stored on the hard drive that was created by a backup
program. The backup file will have to be of a size that can fit on the disk
type that you are burning to as Roxio will not split the file if it's too
big.

NOTE: Most backup programs will do this splitting for you, creating
multiple disk sets for each backup. The caveat is that you have to use the
backup program to restore the data to the hard drive.
 
N

Not Me

The BEST backup solution probably is an external hard drive [many
furnish a backup program with the purchase - Maxtor for one.] The ideal
would be a hard drive image [Norton Ghost 9 OR Acronis True Image]
program which entirely restores the original disk. None is without cost.
 
M

Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)

Regina, most everyone else has you covered and you seem to know your options
pretty well. To clarify one point, while the backup applet that ships with
XP, ntbackup, is limited in the way you describe, you can still back up to
external media as you desire. It simply requires an extra step, once you've
backed up to your hard drive, you can then copy the file to CD or DVD with
the appropriate burner and actually, this might be faster than the process
of backing up directly to that type of media.

When you wish to restore all or a portion of the backup, simply copy the
backup file back to your hard drive and use the ntbackup restore function.
 
B

BR549

I, like you, have used Drive Image for years and it does have a more
intuitive interface. The only reason I stopped using it is I recommended it
to a friend who tried using it to make images to cd. He was never able to
successfully complete imaging that way. So I tried it to cd and was also
disappointed in not ever being able to image to a cd. I then tried Ghost
2003 and had no problems imaging to a hard disk (what I usually do) or
imaging to a cd or dvd. I also tested restoring from cd to a spare drive
and it worked flawlessly. I also never really cared for DI7 and making
images while I'm using the pc, never felt comfortable doing that. Back when
I used Drive Image I used DI 2002 and booted from dos. What matters is what
works for you.

Right, BR.....but I found Ghost hard to use, when
I tried it a couple of years ago. Drive Image is
simpler (but now, like Ghost, is Symantec-
owned, making it hard to get help with).
 
P

Pop

IMO, Winzip is an excellent choice for intermediate beginners,
was it? It'll also span CDs if the file is too large, plus it's
still available free.

Pop
 
R

Regina

Thanks to all -- Sharon, Michael, Pop, Chuck, Abram, BR,
William, Harry, Gene -- I've copied all of your careful
instructions and opinions into a document which I'll use
as my guide-book in making my full and partial back-ups.

I appreciate your time. I hope that anyone else with a
similar question will be able to find and use this string.
 

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