Backing Up Data

[Jay]

How does one easily do a total backup, onto CDs, of all
documents, including Word docs, Notepad notes, and photos
on the hard drive, please?

 

[purplehaz]

Easy and works great:
http://www.powerquest.com/driveimage/

 

[Harry Ohrn]

The Backup program that comes with XP does not have a built in ability to
burn directly to CD but with a work a round like one offered here
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/saving_files_to_cd.htm you can get by with
it. The Backup program is installed by default on XP Pro and might be
missing from XP Home so read here
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm#backup_home

For ease of use you are better off with a third party app that will burn
directly to CD. Most will give you a number of options to choose from
including the ability to auto span CDs and to burn incrementally. Common
apps such as NTIBackup Now http://www.ntius.com/default.asp or Backup MyPC
www.stompinc.com can do this with ease.

Applications like Powerquest's Drive Image or Norton Ghost are full system
imaging programs. They give you very little control over what you backup as
they are intended to backup your entire system. These programs are very
useful though for making full system backups directly to CD or DVD that you
can use to easily restore your system in the event of a catastrophic system
failure or if you want to change hard drives.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

It looks like the OP wants more control over what is being backed up than
what an imaging program can offer.

 

[R. McCarty]

To better facilitate backups, I would recommend creating a data
partition. Afterwards re-direct My Documents, Email stores, My
Pictures, Music,etc to it. Then when you only want to "Backup"
user specific data it is much easier to do. Also, the side benefit is
that when/if you re-install Windows that data is separate and more
protected against accidental loss.

The Backup program that comes with XP does not have a built in ability to
burn directly to CD but with a work a round like one offered here
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/saving_files_to_cd.htm you can get by with
it. The Backup program is installed by default on XP Pro and might be
missing from XP Home so read here
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm#backup_home

For ease of use you are better off with a third party app that will burn
directly to CD. Most will give you a number of options to choose from
including the ability to auto span CDs and to burn incrementally. Common
apps such as NTIBackup Now http://www.ntius.com/default.asp or Backup MyPC
www.stompinc.com can do this with ease.

Applications like Powerquest's Drive Image or Norton Ghost are full system
imaging programs. They give you very little control over what you backup as
they are intended to backup your entire system. These programs are very
useful though for making full system backups directly to CD or DVD that you
can use to easily restore your system in the event of a catastrophic system
failure or if you want to change hard drives.

--

Harry Ohrn - MS MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp

How does one easily do a total backup, onto CDs, of all
documents, including Word docs, Notepad notes, and photos
on the hard drive, please?

 

[Bee]

How does one easily do a total backup, onto CDs, of all
documents, including Word docs, Notepad notes, and photos
on the hard drive, please?

I have been, and am still, using the freeware Replicator which does what you
are asking, Jay, with great satisfaction and confidence.

Replicator (by Karen Kenworthy)
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
Requires Visual Basic 6, also from the same page

If you do like to give it a try, read the development history. You will
then have an idea how powerful and flexible this tool really is; simple idea
it may be. I schedule it to run everyday at 1a.m., and so far it has never
failed once. I have also done restoration of files from these scheduled
copied ones, many times. Again without hiccups. I copy the incremental
files onto CD-Rs before retiring and leave Replicator to mind its business
without supervision.