any1 got back-up advice? the 2010 way?

slim01

slim01

slim01

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Hi guys, was wondering if anyone has any good advice on backing up, the modern way! Sorry for LONG post.

I'll tell you how I currently back up my files, which i do keep on top of, but feel im taking the noobish approach when i'd like to be more of an advanced user. Because i do peoples PC's, I NEED to know im doing EVERYTHING the safest and most efficient way possible.

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I currently back (the old school way) by...

1) INTERNAL HDD COPY PASTE, using 2 300gb HDDs
Every now and then I basically copy all the important folders (pics, documents etc) I have from EACH hdd onto the other.

2) COPY n PASTE to USB Flash
Use this regularly for my business work folder which is on the desktop. I have to drag all my new files from the desktop to a main folder (also on desktop) then to USB drive. SHOULD I KEEP THIS PLUGGED IN, AND FIND A WAY TO SYNC NEW FILES FROM MY DESKTOP? is that what the "briefcase" does? I love using the desktop like a... well desk top. :cool: Is this the problem?

3) Doing a windows 7 backup to external 500gb HDD
I do this every now and then and it takes FOREVER (around 3 hours - and I have 280gb of data). Why does it take so long? The 1st time i did i can understand, but isn't it supposed to just update changed files, and copy NEW ones?:confused: It would be quicker to copy n paste!

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Should back up really be such a pain? Im sure im doing it wrong.
PLEASE HELP MY SQUASH MY NOOBISH WAYS!! :D
 
ill upload a pic so you can see how i like to use my desktop... might not help but hey
 
Backing up personal files is really simple with Win7.
Install a fresh copy, Win7 will put the entire contents of C: into a folder called windows.old
Once the installation has finished i just go into that folder and drag all my files out that i wanted to keep, its just the same as navigating through my old C drive. After I have sorted it out I simply delete the windows.old then defrag the drive to clear it up.
Doing it this way is probably the fastest way as you just move them from one folder to the next, none of that copy and pasting malarky ;)
 
stopper said:
Backing up personal files is really simple with Win7.
Install a fresh copy, Win7 will put the entire contents of C: into a folder called windows.old
Once the installation has finished i just go into that folder and drag all my files out that i wanted to keep, its just the same as navigating through my old C drive. After I have sorted it out I simply delete the windows.old then defrag the drive to clear it up.
Doing it this way is probably the fastest way as you just move them from one folder to the next, none of that copy and pasting malarky ;)
Click to expand...

That's not really a backup though is it? That's just trusting Windows (and yourself) not to delete your stuff when you install it. If your hard disk dies putting the Windows DVD in isn't going to bring it back to life.

OP, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with the way you're doing it currently, you just need to let the computer do more for you.

Number 1) you could automate with Windows backup

If you're just copying a single folder to a usb drive for number 2) then personally I'd continue to do so, although I'd remove the stick from the machine and use this as your off site backup and put it somewhere safe. You could have a setup where it would automatically sync when you plugged in the usb stick, but I like to keep it simple. You can overcomplicate things sometimes for the sake of being fancy. Advanced users drag & drop too.

Number 3) - shifting 280GB over 3 hours really isn't bad - if you think that's a long time you should try backing that up over a network. I would only do something like this every few weeks or before you did something risky as your files are being backup up anyway with number 1).
 
USMT 4.0 (User State Migration Tool) is a great command line based tool that will (scanstate) make a copy of a selected user account or all the user accounts on a system (this includes documents, settings etc) and stores it in a file, then when you've formatted the PC you can "loadstate" to create the user accounts automatically and drop the files and settings back into them that you backed up.

This is also good to migrate settings from the windows.old folder that stopper mentioned. when you install w7 over the top of an OS without upgrading or formatting the disk/deleting the file system it will put all documents/user accounts etc into the windows.old folder :)
 
cheers for your help guys, muchos gracias.

Isnt the easiest way to restore ALL your files and settings onto a fresh build just doing a full backup, then selecting "restore all these files" on the new fresh windows? Isnt that the point of doing it?
Is this why your're saying make a windows.old folder - windows will still recognise it as old settings/files and install it, but you will also be able to browse files like its a normal hard drive?? (i hate the fact you cant see your exact files on system backups so ive alwas just made a folder and copied and pasted on fresh installs, lossing ALL my settings, bookmarks etc)


yeah i had a scare when i plugged in a (re-soldered) xbox wireless adapter for windows. i thought it was an easy fix but was a STUPID thing to do. Risked my £1000 comp for a £15 adapter! booted my comp up and it said "warning! overvoltage detected, shutting down in 10, 9, 8..."
This, naturally, fried some of the sectors on my hdd i believe (on the backup i just did it came up with loads of folders it couldnt copy becsuse they were corrupted EVEN THOUGH i can still open them - whats up with that!?).
Lol, i wont be making that mistake in a while... self repair aint worth the risk if your talking pennies!!

Im looking at some new HDDs now... anyone been looking at the market recently?

Im stumped i Really dont know what to get... I know i want one high performance drive for games+windows and one for storage.

Which is more important for games>>> ..............
Cache- 64mb on a cheap £40 1tb wd green, but only 5200 rpm, enough 4 games?
RPM- 10,000rpm on a velociraptor, and great 300gb but whopping £140 cost
Read/Write- Kingston 200mb/s - 110mb/s but measly 60gb for £90

I been thinking for performance - a kingston SSD and a WD green 1tb for storage... but i just know im gonna fill 60 gb so fast... is it worth spending the extra for the velociraptor you guys rekkon? What about these WD BLACK drives, they look quite fast for the money?

decisions decisions!!

also anyone know what these transfer kits are like that come with ssds - they just clone the hard drive so you dont have to reinstall windows right? i can imagine windows wont like that.. well microsft anyway lol
 
Your signature is too big slim01:

If no images are used then up to 4 consecutive lines of normal or smaller text is permitted
Click to expand...

Go with the SSD + 1tb, and just keep the OS and essential stuff on the SSD and things like games on the 1tb. Will work perfectly well :)
 
Regular syncing to Back up drives
--------------------------------

I use the brilliant SyncToy.
I always preview first, to avoid accidents. Just make sure that you fully understand the different modes : Synchronize, Echo, Contribute.


Fresh install of Windows
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1. Initial install is to a zeroed 20 GB partition, with free space to the right.

2. Essential apps + configuration.

3. When it's just how I want it, 1:1 image with Linux dd + gzip

4. Expand the 20 GB partition into all of the free space.
 
I use FreeFileSync, it works perfectly. I run it every few days and it automatically copies everything new, changed or updated and removes things from the backup with no longer exist at the source.

I have two sources:

1. D:\Files - (Documents, Videos, Pictures, Music, Setups, Settings
2. C:\Users\Neil\Desktop - All files sat on my desktop

These two locations are all I need to back up and if I wish to restore, I just copy them back
 
There is always ROBOCOPY - this is the 'robust file copy' function in the command line of vista and 7.

open cmd (as regular user - IIRC if you right click and run as admin it flags the folder as a system folder and hides it from view)

type: robocopy <source> <destination> /MIR
eg: robocopy D:\Videos\special_interest_videos\ E:\videobackup\ /MIR :p

this mirrors the source to the destination, and will only replace new/hanged/moved/deleted files.
you can also put it in a .bat file and have that sit on your desktop for a double click automated backup
 
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This is what i do:

- Firstly when i install the OS, all updates and it's activated i create a disc image.
- Then i install all my essentiall apps and again disc image.

So now i have a clean install and one with all my software that i can roll back too if needed. My data is always on a seperate drive so not effected by OS rollbacks etc.

- My data is backed up on a internal drive automatically using windows backup (backup gets a bit bloated so need to delete old backups manually, wish ms would sort that out)

You should always have an offsite backup in case the worst happens and your system is damaged or stolen.

- I have 2 live accounts on skydrive allowing 50GB of cloud storage. I keep all my photos and family videos etc there. Each account has 5GB available thru live mesh for essential files that it automatically updates as files are modified.

- Also i have an external portable drive with all my data and the disc images of the OS/software kept away from the house. I use ms syctoy for this, it's simple but powerful and best of all it's free :) It works the same way as you drag and dropping the files to your usb backup but it's automated and after the first backup it only adds the modified files, which in your case would save a lot of time.

Some might say it's over kill but once you have lost data you realise how easy it is for you to lose, you soon wished you had a backup. Hard drives will die at some point, let alone the risk of theft, fire, water damage etc.
 
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stopper said:
Backing up personal files is really simple with Win7.
Install a fresh copy, Win7 will put the entire contents of C: into a folder called windows.old
Once the installation has finished i just go into that folder and drag all my files out that i wanted to keep, its just the same as navigating through my old C drive. After I have sorted it out I simply delete the windows.old then defrag the drive to clear it up.
Doing it this way is probably the fastest way as you just move them from one folder to the next, none of that copy and pasting malarky ;)
Click to expand...

How is that backing anything up? :confused:
 
I create a disk image of my PC every day using Macrium Reflect. This is saved to my server. This is in turn saved to a USB HDD which I can grab on my way out of the house in case of fire or whatever. I also periodically copy the HDD to my brother's PC at his house.

Really important stuff I have uploaded to the Internet - photos, documents etc.

You should always assume that your HDD WILL fail, be stolen or your house will be hit by a meteor. Storage is cheap - photographs, movies and memories can not be replaced.
 
stopper said:
Backing up personal files is really simple with Win7.
Install a fresh copy, Win7 will put the entire contents of C: into a folder called windows.old
Once the installation has finished i just go into that folder and drag all my files out that i wanted to keep, its just the same as navigating through my old C drive. After I have sorted it out I simply delete the windows.old then defrag the drive to clear it up.
Doing it this way is probably the fastest way as you just move them from one folder to the next, none of that copy and pasting malarky ;)
Click to expand...

lol, i hope you dont work in IT...

as for backups, if you dont have too much look at dropbox or other such services... if you only have a very few important files open a gmail account and email them to yourself (and dont retreive them with pop email)

copy your files to an external drive..

NEVER EVER trust an automatic backup, and TEST your backup from a spare machine..

also if you use outlook and you email is important remember to back up the mail store / pst...
 
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