Backup of cpu content to restore without losing info

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I want to backup all I have on this cpu at the moment...so that I can do a
complete restore of my computer...
 
dale said:
I want to backup all I have on this cpu at the moment...so that I can do a
complete restore of my computer...
Click to expand...

As a matter or terminology, you don't backup what's on the cpu. Cpu means
central processing unit. It's the computer processor. What you mean is
backup everything that is stored on the hard drives.

There are many different ways to do this. There is the backup program that
comes with XP, ntbackup. It is installed by default in XP Pro. For Home if
you have the XP CD it can be found in the \MSFT\ValueADD\Ntbackup folder as
ntbackup.msi or download it from here:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/windowsxp_tips.htm#backup_home.

There are 3rd party backup programs like ntbackup but updated and with the
capability to backup to CD/DVD. Programs of this type are Stompsoft's PC
BackUP, Sonic’s Backup MyPC or Second Copy from www.centered.com.

There is also drive imaging. These programs create an exact image of the
partition which can be saved on CD/DVD or to another drive - internal or
external. Imaging to an external USB 2.0 drive works well. Then
occasionally burning an image to DVD gives you redundancy. Restores can be
done of the entire partition or individual files / folders. These work well
and make it easy to recover from a drive crash. Examples of this are:

Acronis True Image Home version 10
Norton Ghost 10
Terabyte Unlimited's Image for Windows

Lastly you can just burn important data files to CD/DVD.

Whatever backup you decide on make sure you know how it works to recover the
data you want.
 
dale said:
I want to backup all I have on this cpu at the moment...so that I can do a
complete restore of my computer...
Click to expand...


You do not have ANYTHING on the "CPU" - CPU is Central Processing Unit - in
otherwords the chip that actually does the processing in your computer. What
you really mean, is, "I want to backup all I have on this Hard Disk"......
 
dale said:
I want to backup all I have on this cpu at the moment...so that I can
do a complete restore of my computer...
Click to expand...


A CPU is a small electronic chip within the computer. I doubt very much that
you want to back up what's there. You should back up what's on your hard
drive, rather than on the CPU.

There's no question in your message, so I will give you my standard reply
about backups in general:

First of all, almost everyone should be backing up regularly. It is always
possible that a hard drive crash, user error, nearby lightning strike, virus
attack, even theft of the computer, can cause the loss of everything on your
drive. As has often been said, it's not a matter of whether you will have
such a problem, but when.

Essentially you should back up what you can't afford to lose--what you can't
readily recreate. What that is depends on how you use your computer and what
you use it for.

It takes time and effort to backup, but it also takes time and effort to
recreate lost data. If you back up daily, you should never have to recreate
more than one day's worth of last data. If weekly, there's potentially a lot
more to recreate. You should assess how much pain and trouble you would have
if you lost x days of data, and then choose a backup frequency that doesn't
involve more pain and trouble than that you would have if you had to
recreate what was lost.

Some things (photographs, for instance) can never be recreated, and more
frequent backup may be wanted for them.

At one extreme is the professional user who would likely go out of business
if his data was lost. He probably needs to back up at least daily. At the
other extreme is the kid who doesn't use his computer except to play games.
He probably needs no backup at all, since worst case he can easily reinstall
his games.

Most of us fall somewhere between those extremes, but nobody can tell you
where you fall; you need to determine that for yourself.

Should you back up Windows? Should you back up your applications? Most
people will tell you no, since you can always reinstall these easily from
the original media. But I don't think the answer is so clear-cut. Many
people have substantial time and effort invested in customizing Windows and
configuring their apps to work the way they want to. Putting all of that
back the way it was can be a difficult, time-consuming effort. Whether you
should backup up Windows and apps depends, once again, on you.

How to backup? What software to use? There are many choices, including the
Windows-supplied backup program. Which choice is best for you depends at
least in part on the answers to some of the questions above.

Finally what backup media should you choose, and how should it be stored?
There are many choices, including CDs, tape, zip drives, and second hard
drives.

I don't recommend backup to a second non-removable hard drive because it
leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of the original and backup to
many of the most common dangers: severe power glitches, nearby lightning
strikes, virus attacks, even theft of the computer.

In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not kept in
the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for example, if the life of
your business depends on your data) you should have multiple generations of
backup, and at least one of those generations should be stored off-site.

My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup scheme uses two
identical removable hard drives,I alternate between the two, and use Acronis
True Image to make a complete copy of the primary drive.

I also use a pair of 1GB thumb drives for making more frequent backups of my
most critical data (like financial information). For that I just drag and
drop.
 
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