|
|
|
|
March 1, 2006 Backup, Backup, Backup
Computer and file backups are critical, and the importance of having backups makes it essential that you use some means to backup and recover information that’s on your computer. If you only want to back up document, data or media files, (including your treasured photo files), it’s as easy as copying the file(s) to floppy, ZIP or CD/DVD disks, USB thumb drives or flash memory cards or an external hard drive--and keeping the backup media in a safe place. Backups safeguard files in the event of accidental or malicious loss or damage to files on your computer’s hard drive. Equally important is a complete computer backup, which includes not only document, data and media files but also the program and system files that are necessary for your computer to operate. This complete backup is critical in the event of a computer or hard drive crash or if you upgrade to a new hard drive or new computer and want to transfer some or all your programs, files and settings. Let’s look at some of the options for backing up document/data/media files or doing complete backups: Floppy Disks or ZIP Disks remain one of the more convenient and inexpensive ways to manually backup data or document files (floppies or ZIPs require too many disks for a practical complete computer backup, and some digital photo files may be too large to fit on a floppy). For important documents and data, we recommend two backup copies. Floppy disks are inexpensive, reliable, and universally available. But floppies are slow, hold only 1.44 MB, and floppy drives are no longer found on some new computers. ZIP disks are fast and hold 100 MB or 250 MB, but are more expensive and require special internal or USB drives to read and write. CDR(W)or DVDR(W) are attractive for file backup because they offer low media price and large storage capacity (up to 750MB for CDR(W) and up to 4.5GB for DVDR(W) per disk). These can be used for complete backups but may require several disks, depending on the size of your hard drive. USB Thumb Drives or Flash Memory Cards are another alternative for file backup. They are convenient and portable, although more expensive than disks. External Hard Drives that connect to the USB or firewire port of your computer are one of the most versatile, convenient, fast and easiest backup options and are suitable for file or complete backups. The falling prices of external hard drives make them even more attractive. Data Tape Cassettes, or streaming tapes, are a slower method of backup that use tape cassettes holding up to 200GB. This option, though a bit dated, offers very compact storage, but the drives and media are expensive. Secure On-line Backup Services are available from companies such as @Backup, iBackup or Iomega iStorage. For a fee, they provide safe, off-site secure storage by having you upload critical files (encrypted for security) via the Internet to the company’s computers. Speed depends on your Internet connection. In the event you need the files, you can retrieve them from anywhere you have Internet access. Storage is convenient, although expensive, costing upwards of $100+ per GB annually, depending on what additional services you want. Complete backups are not supported by some companies. Although Windows itself, some programs such as Quicken and most CD/DVD drives include simple backup software, we recommend an excellent full-featured program that better manages your backups: Norton Ghost 10.0 (Symantec, Windows 2000/XP, $49.95 after rebate) creates a "ghost," or an image of your hard drive, saving it on whatever media you choose: external hard drives, DVDRs and the like. This backup is a complete copy of your computer’s hard drive, including all your program, data, document, media and system files. With a ghost image, you can restore your computer to the state it was in at the time of the backup. Or you can restore individual files or directories, and you can even add or delete files from the stored images without having to re-image the entire drive.
This newest version of Ghost automatically offers advice as to the best configurations for your system, creates ONE Button "Back UP Now" backups, and does much more to safeguard your files. Norton Ghost 10.0 installs quickly and easily and is fairly easy to use. There are defaults and wizards to help and many warnings to keep you out of trouble (such as overwriting a wanted image). Extensive in-program and on-line help, instructions and tutorials are valuable in helping you with the program.
The backup method you use depends on your needs, but we urge you to select the method that works best for you and backup your computer, document, data and media files regularly. You won’t be sorry you did.
|
Disaster
recovery in most circumstances can be done by booting directly from your backup Ghost
CDR or DVDR disks. If you can’t boot from the Ghost CDR or DVDR, or if
other backup media was used, you can boot from the original Norton Ghost
program disc and restore your computer and files.