Backup to a hard drive

[Everett Joline]

I just bought a 160G external hard drive so I can do full
backups of three of my computers. Using the WinXPpro
wizard I backed up the first computer OK. However, the
computer doesn't have a floppy drive so I can't write
the required boot disk to a floppy.

My questions are:
1. How can I now do a full restore if I need one?

2. Can I search the directories on the backup drive
as I normally would to get an old version of a single file?

3. Many computers have no floppy drive these days, so
has MS explained what to do in that case, and provided
a new wizard?

4. Is there a way to maintain the backup periodically as
files change (without doing the whole thing over -8hrs)?

5. Is there a site that has instructions for procedures like
these? (or even a book)

Thanks,
E-Jo

 

[John R Weiss]

I just bought a 160G external hard drive so I can do full
backups of three of my computers. Using the WinXPpro
wizard I backed up the first computer OK. However, the
computer doesn't have a floppy drive so I can't write
the required boot disk to a floppy.

My questions are:
1. How can I now do a full restore if I need one?

The only practical/fully automatic way is with a disk imaging app like Nortone
Ghost or Acronis True Image. The biggest problem with a "full" restore is the
Windows Registry...

2. Can I search the directories on the backup drive
as I normally would to get an old version of a single file?

Not with an imaging program.

However, you can simply copy data folders & files to an external HD and search
them just like an internal HD. The down side is that you can only restore data
files from such a backup, not apps or the Registry.

3. Many computers have no floppy drive these days, so
has MS explained what to do in that case, and provided
a new wizard?

You can boot your system from the XP installation CD, and possibly from a CD
supplied from a 3rd party imaging app vendor.

4. Is there a way to maintain the backup periodically as
files change (without doing the whole thing over -8hrs)?

You can do incremental backups using 3rd party backup apps, which are often
designed (and priced) for servers. Some vendors of ready-built external HDs
also package them with backup software that may be able to do incremental
backups. Depending on the specific software, individual files may or may not be
readily accessible.

5. Is there a site that has instructions for procedures like
these? (or even a book)

They vary with the software used, so a vendor's web site would be the first
likely site to try. There may be other "utility" sites that have ideas for
manual backup schemes as well...

 

[Everett Joline]

Many thanks, John, for your detailed response.
E-Jo

 

[Dave]

I wanted to add a couple things to your questions. If I understood the
questions
and answers correctly, I think there are a couple corrections needed. My
comment
follows each question/answer.

Dave


I use Ghost 10 and you can go into a backup image or one of it's incremental
and restore one file or directory.





Again, I use Ghost 10 and it allows you to do a full backup and then
incrementals
at any interval you desire. I schedule a full backup once a week and an
incremental
daily.

 

[John R Weiss]

I use Ghost 10 and you can go into a backup image or one of it's incremental
and restore one file or directory.

How long does it take to find and restore a single file, compared to doing the
same from a simple data backup? From the reviews I've read, it is not a quick
process.

 

[Dave]

I don't know why they'd say it wouldn't be quick. From My Computer, I
double-click on the backup image or one of it's incrementals, and it opens a
Recovery Point Browser. It's like Windows Explorer and shows the entire
tree structure. I can select the directory, the file and hit the Recover
Files button at the bottom of the screen. I just did one file and it took
about the same amount of time as copying a file. And that was from my
external HD to one of the internal HD's. Overall it didn't take any more
time than finding a file in one directory and copying it to another.

Dave