Backing Up Your Files

EJ wrote to ask about backing up his computer:

Terry, what program do you use to back up your files

I use two programs routinely.

First, every evening, I use Karen's Replicator (www.karenware.com, free for personal, non-business use) to copy my data files to another computer across my home network. Not only does this give me a backup copy in case of the inevitable, accidental error (such as editing a file, saving it, and then realizing that I forgot to save it with a different file name), it also gives me a backup in case of a failure of my hard drive.

Replicator lets me set up multiple tasks and specify the day of the week and the time for them to be performed. If I set several for the same time, they will run in the order listed.

I also use Replicator to make a backup of certain files on my hard drive to another location on my hard drive. This gives me an easily accessible copy for that brain-freeze error.

Then, on a weekly basis, I use Acronis True Image 11 to make an image of my C: drive. I have True Image set to store that image on another computer on my home network.

Sometimes I make a full image of the hard drive. Most often, I make an "incremental image" which picks up only the changes since the last incremental backup. This creates the smallest set of additional files.

Finally, occasionally, I back up directly to an external drive. Then I disconnect it and store it away from my computer,

If your external drive is turned on and is connected to your computer, then your backups are susceptible to damage by viruses etc, just as if they were on your main hard drive. If it's turned off and is still connected, it's still susceptible to electical damage via the connections, for example, a lightning-induced power surge.

The only real backup is turned off, disconnected and put away. If you really need a reliable backup, rotate multiple external drives and keep them off-site. Do a Google search for "backup strategy" to learn more.

Some of my related articles are:

Related articles:

• Backing Up to External Drive
• Backing Up Your Computer & Data
• Backing Up Your Hard Drive
• More about Acronis True Image
• Why Not Just Use File Backups?

Copyright © 2008 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.