Backup question for experts

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AlanSmith215

Although I have used computers for 15+ years I am not the technical
sort. I have been looking for the easiest way to do backups and not
happy with anything I have found. Bought Acronis and simply couldn't
figure out how to use it (anybody want it?).

Then I tried a Western Digital combo unit with the thought I could just
copy my entire hd to it--but it's not at all simple (for me) and the
directions were over my head.

My goal is disaster recovery. I have a work computer (older model 18
gig pc) and a newer Toshiba Satellite use for home stuff.

I would truly appreciate any and all suggestions for the simplest way
to do it. Money is--within reason of course--not an issue.

Thanks very much.

Alan
 
Alan

Have you tried the backup utility included in XP ?

The Backup utility is not included in the default installation of Windows XP
Home Edition. The Backup icon is not present on the Start menu in Windows XP
Home Edition, nor is Backup listed in Add or Remove Programs for Windows XP
Home Edition. The backup program is found on the Windows XP Home Edition CD
in the Valueadd folder.

To manually install Backup

1.Double-click the Ntbackup.msi file in the following location on the
Windows XP Home Edition CD to start a wizard that installs Backup:

CD-ROM Drive:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP

2. When the wizard is complete, click Finish.



You can download ntbackup.msi from here:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software/ntbackup.msi

I hope this helps, please post back and let us know.

Foxhole
 
Alan,

There are many ways to backup your computer, but they all take "learning".
You already have a good one in Acronis True Image. Why don't you go through
the help file - starting at the very beginning. It really isn't that
difficult.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
Although I have used computers for 15+ years I am not the technical
sort. I have been looking for the easiest way to do backups and not
happy with anything I have found. Bought Acronis and simply couldn't
figure out how to use it (anybody want it?).

Then I tried a Western Digital combo unit with the thought I could just
copy my entire hd to it--but it's not at all simple (for me) and the
directions were over my head.

My goal is disaster recovery. I have a work computer (older model 18
gig pc) and a newer Toshiba Satellite use for home stuff.

I would truly appreciate any and all suggestions for the simplest way
to do it. Money is--within reason of course--not an issue.

Thanks very much.

Alan
Click to expand...


Alan:
In response to a recent poster who needed some basic instruction in using
the Acronis True Image program I posted the following. Hopefully you will
find them of some interest.

Here are some step-by-step instructions for using the Acronis True Image
bootable CD to clone the entire contents of one HD to another HD. When you
install the ATI program on your computer you'll be given an option to create
a ATI bootable CD. Do so.

These instructions apply to the ATI version 8 program. I haven't worked with
the version 9 program but I suspect the process is just about the same...

1. Ensure there are no other storage devices connected to the computer other
than the source and destination drives.

a. If both drives (source & destination) are connected, and the computer
is running, insert the Acronis bootable CD in your CD/DVD drive and restart
your computer. If you're cloning to a USB/Firewire external HD, that device
can be connected before restarting your computer.

b. If *only* your working drive (the source disk) is connected at the
time the computer is running, insert the Acronis bootable CD in your CD/DVD
device and shutdown your computer. Disconnect the computer's power cord and
connect the second (destination) drive you'll be cloning to and boot up with
both drives connected.

2. Upon bootup, the Acronis main screen will display. One of the icons will
be "Disk Clone". Double-click on this icon.

3. The "Welcome to the Disk Clone Wizard!" screen will display. Click Next.

4. The "Clone Mode" dialog box will display with two options. Select the
"Automatic" option (it probably will be the default) and click Next.

5. The "Source Hard Disk" screen will display with your two drives listed.
Make *absolutely certain* that your source disk (the drive you'll be cloning
*from*) is highlighted, and thus selected. Click Next.

6. The "Destination Hard Disk" screen will display. Again, make *absolutely
certain* that your destination disk (the drive you'll be cloning to) is
highlighted (selected). Click Next.

7. Assuming your destination disk is not a "virgin" disk, i.e., it contains
data, the "Nonempty Destination Hard Disk" screen will display. Select the
"Delete partitions on the destination hard disk" option and click Next.

8. The "Hard Disk Drives Structure" screen will display reflecting the
"before and after" cloning operation. Again, make absolutely certain that
your source and destination drives are correctly indicated. Click Next.

9. The final screen before the cloning operation takes place will display
summarizing the impending process. Once again, the important thing to note
is that your source and destination drives are correctly reflected. Click
the Proceed button to begin the cloning operation.

10. Following the cloning operation, remove the bootable CD and shutdown the
computer. DO NOT REBOOT AT THIS TIME!

11. If you're working with internal hard drives, it's a good idea to verify
that the cloning operation was successful and that you now have a bootable
clone. So after shutting down the computer, disconnect its power cord, open
your case and disconnect your source disk. Power up and boot with the
destination disk to ensure that it is indeed bootable and that all is well.
THE IMPORTANT POINT IS NOT TO MAKE THIS INITIAL BOOT WITH *BOTH* DRIVES
CONNECTED.

If you're using PATA drives...
Incidentally, I'm assuming in all this that your motherboard's BIOS will
allow you to boot to the cloned drive regardless of its
position/configuration on the IDE cable. We have come across some
motherboards which will not permit a boot from any position other than
Primary Master. If so, you'll need to make the necessary
reconnects/reconfiguration for your cloned drive in that
situation in order to test that it is bootable. Presuming it is, shutdown,
remove the power cord, and reconnect your source disk (assuming that's the
drive you plan to continue to use as your day-to-day working drive). It's
probably best to disconnect the cloned disk after you've verified that the
cloning operation was successful. See the note below.

If, on the other hand, you've cloned to a USB/Firewire external hard drive,
no further action is necessary. Remember that the USB/Firewire EHD is *not*
bootable. And, of course, the external drive should ordinarily be
disconnected from the computer following the cloning operation.

Some notes about disconnecting a cloned internal drive following the cloning
operation: Both Symantec (Norton Ghost) and Acronis recommend this. Both of
their tech support have stated that with both drives connected there is a
strong possibility of file corruption and/or booting problems. Also
mentioned is the possibility of virus infestation of both drives when both
are connected as well as the possibility of electrical surges
damaging/destroying both drives while both are connected. As a general
proposition, the only time both internal drives will be simultaneously
connected following the cloning operation is when you want to re:clone the
contents of the cloned HD back to your day-to-day working HD for restoration
purposes.

And a final important note reiterating the information in step 10. above.
Following the cloning operation, shut (power) down the computer; disconnect
the source disk; and make the *initial* boot of the cloned drive while it is
the *only* drive connected at that time. If, on that initial boot *both*
drives are connected, there's a distinct possibility that the cloned drive
will not boot at a subsequent time. This is particularly so when you're
working with the WinXP operating system.

You can, of course, carry out this cloning operation using the Acronis
Windows GUI interface rather than the bootable CD. The steps are
substantially the same as described above. It's just a personal preference
of mine to work with either a bootable floppy disk (as I can with Norton
Ghost - not available in ATI) or a bootable CD.
Anna
 
Although I have used computers for 15+ years I am not the technical
sort. I have been looking for the easiest way to do backups and not
happy with anything I have found. Bought Acronis and simply couldn't
figure out how to use it (anybody want it?).

Then I tried a Western Digital combo unit with the thought I could just
copy my entire hd to it--but it's not at all simple (for me) and the
directions were over my head.

My goal is disaster recovery. I have a work computer (older model 18
gig pc) and a newer Toshiba Satellite use for home stuff.

I would truly appreciate any and all suggestions for the simplest way
to do it. Money is--within reason of course--not an issue.

Thanks very much.

Alan
Click to expand...

There are about as many ways to backup computers as there
are philosophies regarding the process. Just what do you
want to backup? How is the computer configured for doing
backups? For example, I build turnkey systems with the OS
on one partition and the applications on a second partition.
An image file (using TrueImage today) is made of both these
partitions for easy recovery, and updated whenever changes
are made. A third partition is for the user's files. The user
is taught to backup this partition using the XCOPY command and
appropriate switches to an external USB HD.

Develop a backup philosophy, plan and follow it.
 
Just "Creating" a backup is not enough. Sooner or later everybody
calls on some backup that either is corrupted or unreadable. For
Images make sure to do a verification pass. This compares the set
of Image modules to the source. On any other copy/burn type of
backup just make sure to check the end result with Explorer and
verify the content is there. On some important backups, I will make
the disk and then copy the contents of it back to a temp drive just
to be sure it doesn't have the dreaded CRC or other unreadable
type of issues. Second only to having NO backup is having one that
you can't use.
 
Casper is easy and inexpensive. Easy to use, with a second internal
hard drive it takes seconds to utilize the backup. Takes less than 5
minutes for updating after the intiial backup is made.
Backups to external hard drive also, but they are not bootable.
I have no relationship with Casper other than as a user.
 
Although I have used computers for 15+ years I am not the technical
sort. I have been looking for the easiest way to do backups and not
happy with anything I have found. Bought Acronis and simply couldn't
figure out how to use it (anybody want it?).

Then I tried a Western Digital combo unit with the thought I could
just copy my entire hd to it--but it's not at all simple (for me) and
the directions were over my head.

My goal is disaster recovery. I have a work computer (older model 18
gig pc) and a newer Toshiba Satellite use for home stuff.

I would truly appreciate any and all suggestions for the simplest way
to do it. Money is--within reason of course--not an issue.

Thanks very much.

Alan
Click to expand...

True Image is about as easy to use as any imaging program I've tried. If you
won't take the time to learn it then I doubt anything else will work any
better for you. It does take a bit of effort to learn something new. Perhaps
you could hire someone to set it up and teach you how to use it. If you
don't then sooner or later you will be hiring someone to recover your data.

Kerry
 
R. McCarty said:
Just "Creating" a backup is not enough. Sooner or later everybody
calls on some backup that either is corrupted or unreadable. For
Images make sure to do a verification pass. This compares the set
of Image modules to the source. On any other copy/burn type of
backup just make sure to check the end result with Explorer and
verify the content is there. On some important backups, I will make
the disk and then copy the contents of it back to a temp drive just
to be sure it doesn't have the dreaded CRC or other unreadable
type of issues. Second only to having NO backup is having one that
you can't use.
Click to expand...

Totally correct. Internally, we do the verifications and also
have built-in redundancy. However, getting clients to learn
and backup properly with secondary and tertiary media of their
own work is quite trying. But they do learn...unfortunately
after they lose their first set.
 
Many thanks to all who took the time to respond. Many good ideas
including those that essentially said, "suck it up and take the time to
learn something new..." Hard to argue with that one.

I plan on going over every response and trying the suggestions until I
find the most painless and effective way to do this.

I appreciate everyone's help a great deal.

Alan
 
Many thanks to all who took the time to respond. Many good ideas
including those that essentially said, "suck it up and take the time
to learn something new..." Hard to argue with that one.

I plan on going over every response and trying the suggestions until I
find the most painless and effective way to do this.

I appreciate everyone's help a great deal.

Alan
Click to expand...

Good luck. You have already gone farther than most in that you recognise
that backups are needed and are trying to do something about it. If you have
any specific questions about a particular program feel free to post them.

Kerry
 
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