Today, Laoliao made these interesting comments ...
Dear Jerry,
Firstly, please forgive my poor English!
I very appreciated your help! It is very useful for me; I want
to enter the domain of data backup, but I want to know as most
as I can beforehand!
Could you please tell me whether the family users or
enterprise users are more willing to pay for the fare of data
backup! That is to say which one will have a good market! Is
data backup service very popular in your country or in other
developed countries? Could you please tell me where you are
from? Maybe you do not know that in China, no family is
willing to pay for the data backup, they all use PIRATE
version! So I know there is no prospect here!
Thanks very much!
OK, here's the deal, and don't worry about your English, it is
just fine:
Start by segregating your data from your operating system and
application programs. The easiest, safest way to do this is to
create a data-only HD partition on your internal HD or add a 2nd
HD in the lower drive bay of your PC. Move ALL of your data that
isn't required by Windows or any of your apps to the data
partition. In my case, I actually have two: one for graphics-only
data and the other for all the other kinds of non-graphics data,
such as MP3s.
Then, buy at least 3 USB external HDs. The sizes will depend on
the volume of data you want to back up. Set them up this way:
1) Primary external to mirror all of your HD data, both image
backups of your C:\ primary partition so you can recover your
entire system without having to reinstall everything, and to
store in real-time all of your data. The reason for the external
HD is to reduce the risk of a HD crash taking your down
completely
2) Two secondary externals to periodically back-up your ENTIRE
system to, both Windows/apps and all data. Store one of these in
your bank's safety deposit box or some equally safe off-site
location. The second one goes someplace reasonably safe in your
house, like in your basement but off the floor at least 3 feet.
Now, when you get ready to do one of your periodic backups - I do
mine about every 4-6 weeks - scan your system for malware before
copying anything, no sense backing up malware! Then, copy
everything you want to keep safe to the secondary external you
currrently have in your basement and swap it with the one you
have in your bank safety deposit box. Continue to backup and swap
these 2 secondary externals and you'll be no more than 4-6 weeks
out-of-date if disaster strikes you, such as a fire or natural
disaster.
But, this entire idea depends on YOU deciding what is and is not
important to you, and how much time, energy, and money you want
to throw at it. There simply is NO single fully effective way to
protect yourself but you can minimize the risk at a reasonable
cost.
Now, ask any specific questions you may have and I'll try to
help. Note that as yet, I haven't recommended anything except
that previously I said I used Acronis True Image for my image
backups.
