Backup & Restore help.

[Guest]

After performing a complete backup of everything on your computer. You have 1
file .bkf. If you have say a hardware failure on that computer and have to
reinstall the os, what do you do, get that .bkf file and restore it to the
new computer?

How exactly do you restore from the .bkf file?

 

[Kevin]

What? Is that file the same size as all the combined files of your data?
In other words, if you back up a bunch of folders containing all your music,
photos and documents and the size of that back up file is 500 MB, the size
of the .bkf file should also be 500 MB.

I never back up anything to my hard drive. Back up your data to CD's. Your
hard drive can blow up and you still have all your data happily residing on
CD's, ready to be copied back to a new drive.

 

[Kerry Brown]

After performing a complete backup of everything on your computer. You
have 1
file .bkf. If you have say a hardware failure on that computer and have to
reinstall the os, what do you do, get that .bkf file and restore it to the
new computer?

How exactly do you restore from the .bkf file?

Install Windows XP, restore backup from .bkf file. You should store the
backup on another hard drive or use a utility to break it into smaller files
and copy to CD. The most likely scenario when you will need to use it is a
failed hard drive. If it is on the failed hard drive it is useless to you.
NTBackup will not backup to multiple CD's or DVD's. You will need some other
software to do this. If it fits on one CD or even one DVD it is probably not
backing up your entire system.

Kerry Brown
KDB System

 

[Guest]

If you backup the entire contents of your computer it creates the .bkf file.
Can you then copy that file to a disc?

If you then try to restore that file to a new computer what happens to all
the system files and program files for programs that aren't on this new
computer?

 

[Kerry Brown]

If you then try to restore that file to a new computer what happens to all

the system files and program files for programs that aren't on this new
computer?

The files will be overwritten. Any files not overwritten will still be there
but the registry will reflect the old computer so any programs installed on
the new computer will not work. The new computer may not even boot up
because of hardware differences between the old and new computers. You would
most likely have to do a repair install after restoring the backup. I
suggest you do some studying of how backups work. It sounds like you don't
really understand the concepts involved. This can be dangerous because you
may not have a proper backup and you will lose data if your computer goes
down.

Kerry Brown
KDB Systems

 

[Guest]

Yes I need some help bad. Backups are a big concern for me.

 

[Don I]

In addition to what Kerry said, you need to do some sort of off site backup
at least once in a while. That way if you have a fire at home, you can
restore at least SOME of your data.

I store all my data files under "My Documents" and sub-folders (any location
will do, but this made sense). This makes it easy to grab the files and
drag them to the disc. I've got copies of all my program's install discs in
my desk at work along with copies of the registration information (license
numbers and the like). I back up my data files to DVD's (re-writable) at
least once a week. Then I occasionally copy that data to a new disc and
take the old one to work and leave it in my desk at work. I don't try and
backup the entire drive all the time--I just back up my data and if/when I
need to start over, I just reinstall the OS, install the required drivers,
install the firewall and anti-virus software (and IMMEDIATELY update both)
and then restore my data files. Outlook likes to store it's files under a
location that is NOT in "My Documents"--I changed that on my machine. My
email gets backed up along with everything else.

All my important paperwork (old tax returns etc) has been scanned and
archived to DVD as well and stored both at home and in my desk at work.

I have a digital camera and all photos I want to keep get stored along with
the "import papers" DVD's. When someone gives me a picture that I think is
special, I scan it and store it with my own pics.

Warranty paperwork is also scanned and stored with the important papers--at
least until the end of the warranty.

I've got pictures of all my equipment (PC's, Printers, Scanners, Furniture,
TV's, A/V equipment etc) stored with the "important papers" discs. That way
the insurance adjuster will be able to get things done.

If there is ever a fire, I can restore most everything. The reason I don't
want to just copy the whole HD is that if I DO need a new PC because of
theft or fire, I'd want to use the NEW OS--not the one from my old PC.