Offsite Backups Provide Digital Peace of Mind

Offsite Backups Provide Digital Peace of Mind

by: Harald Anderson

In today’s fast paced datacentric world of personal computers and consumer/business electronics (such as PDAs and digital media players) we have, as a society, developed a reliance on digital data. We have particularly developed a dependence on data stored on various magnetic media such as hard drives, removable disks, and magnetic tape. While some computer users may never have had a problem with loss of data due to viruses, Internet worms or file corruption, most of us have at some time experienced the frustration and loss of productivity that comes with the loss of computer data.

Perhaps someone in your office deleted files off the network that your entire team had been working on for months. Or maybe the corporate firewall didn’t stop the latest Internetborne virus that has a penchant for overwriting ข.docข files with junk data. Like it or not, if you connect your computer to the Internet (and in some cases, even if you don’t), your mission critical data is at risk. The question is: What can you do about it?

An excellent solution is to employ offsite backups. Offsite backup solutions allow you to store critical data that is crucial to your business or personal computing experience. Offsite backup providers make it quick and easy for you to back up your most important files to a secure, offsite facility that offers redundant storage, and round the clock accessibility to your files in the event of a critical ขsystem meltdownข. When you use an online offsite backup provider, you can be secure in knowing that your files and important information will be available to you no matter what happens to the machines you work on every day.

Even if your computer needs to be completely formatted or your laptop is stolen you can have the peace of mind that the most important part of your computing experience — the data you generate on a day to day basis — is safe and secure and always available to you.

Your DATA is your Life. Protect it.

Copyright 2005 Harald Anderson

About The Author

Harald Anderson is a freelance writer and webmaster for http://www.SafeHarborData.com an online backup service. Download your free thirty day trial and experience the Digital Peace of Mind that accompanies a secure disaster recovery routine for your business. http://www.SafeHarborData.com

This article was posted on February 01

by Harald Anderson

Learn How To Safely Backup Your Hard Drive

Learn How To Safely Backup Your Hard Drive

by: Otis F Cooper

We all know that we should back up our system as soon as possible.But if you’re like most of us,you will get to it tomorrow.The problem is that tomorrow rarely ever comes until you experience a serious computer failure and then its too lake.

Taking the time to backup your data or entire hard drive is not as painstaking as it may seem.And the rewards of doing so will be great should your system experience a crash.

WINDOWS AND OTHER BACKUP SOFTWARE

If you have Windows XP you willl need to install the new Windows backup ultility from the Windows XP cdrom.Just place the WinXP cdrom in your cdrom drive and locate the line D:\VALEADD\MSFT
TBACKUP.

Here you see the first letter as D but if your optical drive have a different drive letter,exchange the D with your driveกs letter.To install the utility,click on the file named NTBackup.msi.

The backup utility will be installed to the system tools group. Click Start,All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,and Backup.There is a neat wizard that will walk you through the backup process.

WinXPกs backup utility will backup your entire hard drive and will make a recovery disk to boot.

One neat third party backup software you can try is NewTech InfoSystems at http://www.ntius.com where you can download their trial version and put it to use for 30 days.And if its your cup of tea,the full version will run you about $79.95

INCREMENTAL OR DIFFERENTIAL BACKUPS

You should back up your entire hard drive when you perform your first backup.After that it is best to perform an Incremental backup.This type of backup only allow you to backup files that have changed since your last performed backup.

Differential Backups copy changed files and files that have been added since you last did your entire backup. This type of backup is more detailed than incremental backups and is easier to restore.

BACKUP STORAGE DEVICES

You can backup your files on cdroms and have the files compressed to save both space and backup time.WinXP will compress folders,subfolders,and files during backup.

You can purchase compression software that will do the same saving you cdrom storage space.The compressed files are automatically uncompressed once they are restored unto your hard drive.

You can also use a second hard drive as your backup storage device.We use two backup hard drives to be certain Ultimate PC Repair is up and running 24/7.

You can either purchase an internal hard drive in install it to your ide cable or you may want to purchase an external hard drive that connects to your Universal Serial Bus or USB Port.

The advantage of the external drives is that they have very large amount of storage space,transfer data fast,and can be moved from your computer to any other computer.

We use the Western Digital 170 Gigabyte External Hard Drive and we simply bounce it around to either one of our four computers with the greatest of ease.

USING ONLINE BACKUP SERVICES

You may also consider online services for backing up your data.If you lose all your backup data,say due it a natural dissaster such as a flood,your online data is right there waiting for you.

Another advantage of online backups is that you can access,upload,or download your data from any location. It is best to use high speed internet access if you’re considering online data storage.

One such online backup service is Istorage located at http://www.iomega.com/istorage and charges from $2.49 a month for 50MBs to $17.95 a month for a big 1,000MBs of storage.

Or you can check out FilesAnywhere located at the url http://www.filesanywhere.com

Still another online service to try is CapSure located at http://www.capsure.com

Backup your system now in one way or another if you have not done so.If you have critical data that you simply cannot due without,take the time to invest in a backup device or one of the many online backup services.

Stop and perform those backups as soon as possible. You will be thankful you did should something go wrong with your computer.Its always better to be safe than sorry.

About The Author

Otis F. Cooper, author of the award winning PC Super Pack, the Computer Training By Video course. Learn how to make your computer work for you. Read more about repairing your PC and register to receive Ultimate Repair Tips ezine now.

Visit http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Otis F Cooper

Data Backup Prevention Is Better Than Cure

Data Backup Prevention Is Better Than Cure

by: Justin Koh

Imagine that you have been working on a file for the entire day and there was a power surge that caused your computer to กblack outก. It would have been a frustrating experience for us as we had put in a lot of time and effort into it. I am sure that many of us would have experienced data loss in some form or another and have learnt to be wiser to backup our data to avoid any form of data loss.

Have you ever thought of a worst case scenario where a fire broke up and destroy your computer or where your laptop got stolen? Should that happen, the first thing that comes into your mind is the thousands of dollars that you spend on your computer or laptop and you would feel very upset about it. However, when you thought for a second moment, you started to realize that what is really valuable are the amount of data that you have built up over the years in it. Though hardware can always be replaced, even at no cost to you if you have insurance, but lost data is gone forever.

Lost data such as the thousands of mp3 and movies that you have downloaded from the Internet, thousands of digital photographs that are impossible to replace are lost in an instant. This form of data loss hits home especially hard when the laptop holds the lifeblood to your business. Imagine all your business contacts documents and contracts that you have painfully built up over the years would be vanished just like that. Your business would be wipe out overnight.

Do not wait for the worst to happen before you start to consider about data backup.

About The Author

Justin Koh is the original contributor of this article for http://www.backupcenter.info.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 20

by Justin Koh

Is DVD Storage An Attractive Alternative For Your

Is DVD Storage An Attractive Alternative For Your Computer Backup?

by: Per Strandberg

If you have a computer for home use or for your business and don’t take comprehensive backup for full protection then you are in the dangerzone. Maybe you do not take any backup at all.

You can find in Windows a basic backup utility which are installed during the installation.

I should say for all Windows…,but in fact it is not included during the installation of Windows XP Home Edition.

It is as if Microsoft thinks that data protection is not necessary for home computers and computers used by small businesses.

It is true that hard drives are becoming less prone to hard disk crashes.

But, if you consider not only hard disk crashes, but also virus infection, theft plus other treats, then you realize the importance of implementing a fullproof backup strategy for your computer.

Today many computers are equipped with a DVD burner, yet most do not use it to manage their vital data backup. The amount of data you can store on a single DVD is several Giga Byte.

There are many types of backup you can make.

Here are the steps that I take myself to fully secure my data against data loss:

1. Disk image backup.

I use a disk image backup software and make a complete image backup of the disk on consecutive DVDs.

I also create an emergency rescue CD.

If I have a hard disk crash I’ll use this emergency CD to boot from.

But, first I have to install and setup a new hard disk that is working.

Then I can recreate the data directly back from this backup stored on the DVDs.

This work is made fast and without the need to spend time installing both the operation system and the backup software.

Everything is instead copied directly into the hard disk from the DVD’s.

2. Full hard disk backup.

I also use a data backup software and create a full backup of the hard disk on consecutive DVD’s.

This is a standard disk backup. With this backup Iกm able to restore any files and/or folders.

I can also move the data to another computer.

3. Regular scheduled backup of files and folder.

Here I use the same software product I use for the full disk backup. I make with this software regular schedule backups of the files and folders I work with.

In my case they include My Documents, Outlook emails and other files that are modified over time.

I do this by keeping a permanent rewritable DVD inside the DVD burner.

I then rotate a number of DVD’s for this purpose so I can keep copies away from the computer.

Whenever I install important new programs from the Internet or I make other major changes to my system I’ll also create a new disk image backup and a full hard disk backup.

You should use a DVD burner that is built for rewritable DVDs.

Unfortunately there are several competing DVD standards on the market.

The DVDR, DVDR and DVDRAM standards supports DVDs which only can be written to once and can’t be reused and those standards should be avoided.

The DVD player should instead support at least one rewritable DVDs standard.

Either DVDRW or DVD+RW.

Conclusion:

I use regular schedule backup to backup the data files I work with on a daily basis.

I’ll make a disk image backup so that in case of a hard disk failure I will be back in business fast.

I also create a full disk backup so that I will be able to restore individual files or folders. It makes it also possible to move the data to another computer.

Copyright 2005 Per Strandberg

About The Author

Per Strandberg specializing in data security and data storage and have a site about data backup technology

at ==> http://www.databackupandstorage.com

Discover more about DVD storage

at ==> http://www.databackupandstorage.com/dvdbackupandcopy.html

Learn more about how to backup from Windows

at ==> http://www.databackupandstorage.com/windowbackup.html

This article was posted on February 04

by Per Strandberg

Virus Nightmare..Lessons Learned

Virus Nightmare..Lessons Learned

by: Mal Keenan

I got a virus the other day, Thursday I believe and since then I have been making FRANTIC efforts to save all my info.

The most important thing for me to save are my Outlook Express emails and my Roboform passwords. That way I can at least access all the places I need, to download and reinstall all the software I use.

Thankfully I was able to still access my Laptop and very, very slowly (the system was painfully slow because of the damge done by the virus) start a process of trying to save my system without having to reformat the whole disk. I say thankfully because after a virus attack not everyone is able to even access the system.

I tried antivirus software, I attempted to fix things using the various กmalicious advertisingก expulsion applications (Adaware, Spybot etc.). All to no avail. After almost three days I resigned myself to the fact that it would have to be a reformat which means restoring my Laptop to factory settings. What a nightmare!

First of all I made a backup of my Outlook express email software, emails, account settings etc. For this I downloaded a great little free trial software application called Outlook Express Back Up Wizard, a free trial can be downloaded here:

http://www.outlookexpressbackup.com/ This software met by needs better than others I tried.

If you don’t use Outlook Express then you can download others by searching here:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:200435,RNWE:en&q=email+backup+free+downloads

The I did a search for some backup software to back up the files that I could and also to use for future occasions. After trying a few that either wouldn’t work on my system, or didn’t back up to the medium that I wanted (CD Rom Discs) I found a great tool that just did the trick and in fact I plan to buy as soon as the free trial is up. The software is called กNTI Backup Now 4 Deluxe Suiteก and it is so straightforward that even a tech dummy like me found it simple.

Again you can use the full version for 30 days free:

http://www.ntius.com/

I added my Roboform (www.roboform.com) passwords, my Internet Explorer favourites, my Outlook Express backup, my Microsoft Money backup files (For accounting purposes), as many software installation files as I had and most of the files and folders that I have used recently.

Of course what I also ralised is that I have not kept the Install files of loads of the software that I have on my Laptop. Bad mistake! This means that I will have to go search for these again to download to my reformatted system.

What I will do in future is save every Install file in itกs own folder with passwords, serial numbers and any other useful info in a notepad file alongside them.

The hard lesson I have learned is to make sure in future I do frequent backups of my system. I have been online since 1998 and never had any major problems. This is the first and I foolishly underestimated the damage a virus could do.

My next step is to get an external drive to use as a backup and as I mentioned to use it frequently.

I hope this has given you some food for thought. As I sign off here I am going to insert my Toshiba Product Recovery CDRom.

If I had taken the necessary precautions I wouldn’t have just lost three days of my time. Three days I could have been putting to better use.

Ah well, there is positive in every bad situation. Or at least thatกs what I keep telling myself:).

Copyright 2005 http://www.conceiveandbelieve.com

About The Author

Mal Keenan is publisher and editor of Home Business Tips Newsletter:

http://www.homebusinesstipsnewsletter.com/

Visit His Home Business/Internet Marketing Training Site Below: http://www.pluginprofitstraining.com/

This article was posted on February 13

by Mal Keenan

An Introduction to Tape Backup

An Introduction to Tape Backup

by: Linus Chang

If you run a small business, chances are you’re saving important files to a server. But what happens when disaster strikes? How are you ensuring that your files won’t be lost? Many people fail to realize that the loss of files could cripple their business. You can insure your office and equipment, but you can’t insure files. You can’t repair or buy back lost files. Ipso facto, they are lost!

This brings us to the concept of disaster recovery. What is disaster recovery? If you’re thinking that disaster recovery is about frantically trying to get back data thatกs already been lost, then you’re already behind the 8ball! Disaster recovery is about safeguarding your organizationกs data so that it can be safely restored in event of a crippling disaster. And having an industrystandard file backup strategy is undoubtedly the most important part of disaster recovery.

What you have to do is ensure that all files on the server are backed up to another storage medium tape, removable hard disk, NAS device, and so on. Most businesses choose to use tape. Letกs look at how you can set up a tape backup strategy for your own business.

1. Tape the perfect backup medium

Isn’t tape an anachronism in the age of optical disks, removable hard drives and a plethora of whizbang, randomaccess storage media? Tape is indeed a dinosaur in relative terms, but itกs ideal for backup. Tape is slow, but can store a lot of data… one midrange tape should be enough to backup your entire server. Plus, tape is extremely cheap midrange tapes cost around $20 each.

2. When should you backup?

Typically, tape backup is performed at the end of each day. Just put in the tape and let the backup process run overnight. If your server ever suffers a catastrophic disaster, you have at least saved all your files from the previous day.

3. Tape Rotation

The ideal tape backup solution would involve using a new tape for each backup. This means purchasing a new tape for every day of your businessกs operations. This is hardly costeffective for your business. Tape is cheap, but not that cheap!

This is why we speak of tape rotation. Tape rotation means to reuse tapes from previous backups. The simplest tape rotation scheme is to have one tape for each day of the working week. Tapes are labeled Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

You can restore data from any one of the tapes in your library, or in this case, any day in the past the week. This strategy requires only five tapes, but only provides one weekกs data backup history.

4. GrandfatherFatherSon A Case Study

The grandfatherfatherson schedule is the most widely used method, and involves backing up data in the following way:

daily on the กson tapesก

weekly on the กfather tapesก

monthly – on the กgrandfather tapesก

This system is far more powerful than the fivetape rotation, but requires more tapes.

This strategy provides you with the ability to restore data from the last week, plus any Monday over the last month, plus any month for as many monthly tapes as you have. Variations on this scheme are available, and provide a tradeoff between the number of tapes required, and the number of monthly tapes available.

5. Different types of backup

Different types of backups are available in backup software.

Full all files, system data

Differential all files added or changed since the last full backup

Incremental all files added or changed since the last full, differential or incremental backup

Daily all files added or changed on the day of the backup

A Full backup will copy all files and system data to the backup media. It allows for the complete restore of all data from one single tape.

Differential, Incremental and Daily are partial backups are designed to reduce amount of data backedup to the media, resulting in faster backups. To restore data using one of these backups, the last Full backup tape will also be required, along with any other partial backups since the last Full backup.

6. Tape backup software

At this point you may be thinking that performing tape backup is a complex task. Tape rotations, incremental backups… sure, you can try to do this manually, but this would make the backup process hideously difficult and prone to human error! The solution is to invest in a good piece of server backup software that will manage and schedule your tape backups for you.

What should you look for in tape backup software? For many small business owners, the price is crucial. Many brands of backup software are just too expensive in the $1000+ range and contain features that youกll never need. Look for a backup utility thatกs designed specially for small business instead. It should be simpletouse, reliable and affordable. Choose a good tape backup program and youกll be well on your way to safeguarding your files and data.

About The Author

Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist tape backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup programs. For more information visit http://www.backupassist.com.

This article was posted on March 09

by Linus Chang

How to Backup a PC

How to Backup a PC

by: Marisa Pellegrino

Everyone thinks, ‘it won’t happen to me’. But what if it does? All your files, pictures and documents gone, in an instant. Sure, you can reach for the disks that came with your computer to reinstall the applications but what about the most important component, your data? Data backup is something too many computer owners ignore.

There are a number of things that can bring down your computer, some of which include a power surge, hard drive crash, careless mistakes, viruses, a fire or theft.

If your system did not come with a recovery disc, you should consider making a backup disc as soon as possible. This is important should you ever need to rebuild your system to its ขas boughtข condition.

How often you back up your data varies from person to person. It depends on the volume of data input, frequency of change, and the nature of your data. A general rule of thumb would be to back up anything that would be difficult and timeconsuming to recreate.

How to backup data:

If you have Windows XP, it includes backup software; however, if you’re running on Home Edition, it isn’t installed by default. Once the software is installed, go to the Start menu and choose ขaccessoriesข, then ขsystem toolsข, then ขbackupข in order to run the backup wizard. On the final screen, you can press the ขadvancedข button which will allow you to automatically schedule recurring backups. The wizard also allows you to create a system recovery disc which will enable you to boot and rescue your data should Windows get damaged. At the end of this article, you will find a list of programs and software that can do the data backup for you.

You may think you’d like to back up everything you have in your computer. However, there is no need to back up software and applications since these can be reinstalled with the original discs. Most Windows programs now have a default for storing data within your user profile.

Backup programs:

There are a number of programs that perform data backup for you, some of which are described here. Ghost 9.0 creates full drive images, IBackup copies files to remote databases, and Dantz’s Retrospect Professional 6.5 is a traditional backup tool. There is also free software available for data backup. For instance, Backup4 protects your data and features an easy backup wizard that allows you to schedule backups whenever you like. Disk Tools Image Maker is an easytouse disk imaging tool which allows you to create exact images of your entire drive. It works directly from within Windows so there is no need to boot from a floppy. Handy Backup is another software which makes an automatic backup of critical data to any type of storage medium.

Backup Tips:

Here are a few tips to keep in mind regarding data backup:

Don’t procrastinate. Most people decide to back up their data only after they’ve experienced a loss!

Try to find a backup software that can hold twice as much as your hard disk so that you’re able to schedule backups when you’re not there.

Back up only what is necessary. However, if you’re not sure, back it up … better safe than sorry!

About The Author

Marisa Pellegrino is a freelance writer from Montreal and is the head researcher and content manager for RAID RECOVERY (www.raidrecoveryguide.com) and other sites.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 22

by Marisa Pellegrino

Data Backup for Beginners

Data Backup for Beginners

by: Niall Roche

Itกs 10pm. Do you know where your data is?

Data. Small bits of information clustered together to make Word files, documents,pictures, MP3s, HTML etc. We work on our computers every single day never sparing a thought for all those millions of chunks of data spread all over our hard disks. The data is there and it does itกs job.

Until of course the data is not there anymore.

72 hours ago I suffered from massive data loss. There were no hackers involved. No power surges or lightning strikes. Just wear and tear on my hard disk. 20 Gigabytes of business and personal information gone forever. Passwords, HTML files, ebooks all gone. I didn’t lose any sleep though. Why? Simply because this was my secondary hard disk that was only used as a backup drive. All my critically important data is safely stored elsewhere.

Picture this scenario. You sit at your computer, turn it on and nothing. Dead. Youกve just lost everything youกve worked on for the last 12 months. All your Adwords campaigns, website templates, ebooks, Excel files. Everything. How do you feel? How do you go about recovering?

============================================

70% of companies who suffer serious data loss go out of business within 12 months.

============================================

The truth is that most people never recover from losing all their data.

What can you do to prevent this happening to you? Backup.Backup. Backup. Use a backup system.

How do I backup my data?

You could use a zip drive, a CDR/DVD writer, a USB drive or an secure online storage service. Using any of the above is far better than using nothing at all and hoping for the best.

============================================

Data loss cost US businesses in excess of 18 billion dollars in 2003.

============================================

How often should I backup my data?

You should backup all important data on your PC at least once a week. An easy way to do this is to use a rotating backup system. Get 4 blank disks . Label these disks Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4. At the start of the month make a fresh copy of all your critical data on the Week 1 disk and continue this process on Week 2, 3 and 4. Following this procedure ensures that no matter what happens your stored data will never be more than 1 week old and youกll also have 3 other copies of your data stored away that are less than a month old. Simple. Effective.

What software do I need?

Microsoft Windows has its own backup software included. Apple Mac users can take advantage of Apples Backup software and iDisk backup service.

How soon should I do this?

Now. Even using floppy disks start the process of backing up your data today. The sooner you start the safer your data is.

============================================

Human error and hardware failure account for 76% of all data loss.

============================================

The cost of recovering from a major hardware failure such as a hard disk crash can be massively reduced by keeping a backup of your data.

You’re worked hard to build up your business. Don’t throw all that hard work away by not taking the proper steps to safeguard your critical information.

For more information on keeping your data safe visit visit the Data Backup Guide on AffiliateAdvocate.com.

About The Author

Niall Roche is the content author and owner of http://www.affiliateadvocate.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 10, 2004

by Niall Roche

How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition

How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition

by: Stephen Bucaro

Your computer cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the computer itself is not the most valuable part. The data on the hard disk is the most valuable part. How many hours of work did you put into creating that data? One little event, like a power line spike from a lightning strike, and all that work could be lost. Unfortunately, backing up with Windows XP Home Edition is not as simple as it should be.

The first step is to choose a backup device. You might choose a tape drive or a DVD drive, but those devices might require drivers to be installed before you could restore from them. The simplest option is to install a second hard drive in your computer.

The second hard drive doesn’t have to be equal to your main hard drive. You can use an older, smaller hard drive as the backup device, as long as the backup drive has more กFree Spaceก than the main hard drive has กUsed Spaceก.

Install a Second Hard Drive

When installing a second hard drive in your computer, itกs important to configure the drives correctly. Your motherboard should have two ATA (sometimes called IDE) connectors. The primary connector should have a cable with two drive connectors. The end connector should go to your main hard drive, the middle connector can be used for a backup hard drive. The second motherboard ATA connector should go to your CDROM.

On the back of each hard drive is a jumper. The jumper on your main hard drive should be set to the กMasterก position. The jumper on your backup hard drive should be set to กSlaveก position. Most modern computers use กCable Selectก, so you can set both jumpers to the กCable Selectก position. Don’t forget the power connector for the second drive.

When you restart your computer, the second drive should be automatically recognized and be designated with the next drive letter available, usually E: (D: being used for the CDROM drive).

Format the Second Hard Drive

Generally, you will want to reformat the second hard drive after installation to remove any previously installed operating system and to remove any previous file access rights. To format the drive, select Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administration Tools | Computer Management. In the กComputer Managementก window, under กStorageก, click on กDisk Managementก.

Right click on the backup diskกs drive letter. In the popup menu, select All Tasks | Format… In the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the กYesก button. In the กFormatก dialog box, in the กFile systemก dropdown list, select NTFS. Click on the กOKก button. Again, in the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the กYesก button.

Install the Backup Utility

Windows XP Home Edition doesn’t install the Backup utility by default. Youกll need to install it manually from your Windows XP CDROM.

1. After inserting the CDROM, open Control Panelกs กAdd or Remove Programsก utility. In the กAdd or Remove Programsก utilityก, click on the กAdd New Programsก button, then click on the กCD or Floppyก button.

2. In the กRun Installation Programก dialog box that appears, navigate to the VALUEAD/MSFT/NTBACKUP folder on the CDROM and select the file NTBACKUP.MSI. Click on the กFinishก button. The Backup utility will be installed.

Perform a Full Backup

To perform a backup, select Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup to open the Backup Utility.

Note: If you don’t find Backup listed in System Tools, double click on the file name ntbackup.exe in the Windows\system32 folder.

In the กBackup or Restore Wizardก, click on the กAdvanced Modeก link. In the กBackup Utilityก dialog box, select the กBackupก tab and set the checkbox next to the drive to backup (c:) and set the checkbox next to กSystem Stateก.

In the กBackup media or file nameก text box, enter the path to the file for the backup (example E:\Backup.bkf). Click on the กStart Backupก button.

In the กBackup Job Informationก dialog box that appears, set the radio button next to ‘replace the data on the media with this backupก. Click on the กStart Backupก button. The กbackup Progressก dialog box will appear.

Even when you backup to relatively fast media like hard disk, the process can take 30 minutes or longer depending upon how much data is on the main drive.

When the backup is complete, turn off the computer and remove the data and power cables from the backup drive. It doesn’t make sense to leave the backup drive connected because if the cause of a failure is a power spike, it will take out both drives. Next time you want to backup youกll need to reinstall the cables.

How to Perform a Restore

In the unfortunate event that your computer crashes and you can’t get it back by any other means, youกll need to reinstall Windows XP from the CDROM. (Automated System Recovery is not supported in Windows XP Home Edition.) Youกll need to reinstall the Backup utility. Then youกll need to shut down the computer to install the data and power cables to the backup drive. Restart the computer and use the Backup Utility to restore Windows XP from the backup file.

When using this backup method, itกs important to be careful not to break any pins when you are removing and installing the data cable of the hard drive. And if your computer doesn’t use กcable Selectก, don’t forget to change the jumper on the main hard drive back to กSingleก.

Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Stephen Bucaro

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp

This article was posted on September 09, 2004

by Stephen Bucaro

Tech Buzz Today!

Tech Buzz Today!

by: Greg Richburg

Today’s popculture spouts hiphop, camera phones, 50ข Plasma HDTVs, high speed Internet access, web cams and integrated global espionage right there in your living room, office PC or PDA. I have access to more information today than I could have ever dreamed!! Someone call security! Am I being oppressed?!

I want my instantaneous access to information about bombs, adult media and Viagara without a prescription. I want to download music and not pay a dime, not to mention movies and software. I had ขThe Passion of the Christข on DVD before it was even in the theatres. I want more popcorn Jiffy on the double. I want my MTV!

What is happening? What is happening to us?

I can’t get a thing done these days without first making sure I’m not going to become a slaughtered lamb. And these days, my life is busy helping people fend off advertisers, hackers, and malicious ขmalwareข programmers that live their meager live just for the sake of twisting society. If I could only get my hands on the creator of the Netsky virus…

ขWork smarter not harder.ข

Have you ever heard that before? Of course you have. Today, the smart workers come ready. They are careful, especially in an office environment, but even in the home. There are methods to the madness; there are ways to go about your business prepared.

The first rule in American economics… ขWhy build one when you can build two for twice as much? Huh? Does that make a bit of sense? Actually in a network it does. If one fails, the other takes over. It is that simple.

I walked into a multimillion dollar business the other day as an analyst. I was just there to offer some recommendations, nothing more. A single hard drive failure and their entire operation would be in shambles. I really couldn’t believe it.

With the absurd abilities of a moderately intelligent high school kid, it amazes me that some of our most successful entrepreneurs take unnecessary risks. A simple RAID installation, a hard drive mirror, a backup tape drive, and a professional firewall are all fundamental when planning to secure your future.

If a hard drive crashes in a raid array, one of the other drives in the array can handle the load until the failed drive is replaced. That is the idea! In a hard drive mirror, if the primary drive fails, a simple switch and you are back up and running in no time. Replace the failed drive and recreate the mirror. YES!

What about viruses, file corruption, or accidental deletions?

A tape drive system can quickly backup 40 gigabytes of information on a daily basis. Archive your backups. You lose a file, so what. Restore from backup. Of course, you should always use a solid AntiVirus system as well.

Are there resolutions to the difficulties presented to our future? If we protect ourselves well enough, I guess we can limit our worries. I am not sure. But some things are still for certain. Death and taxes. Everything else is just a handshake. Make sure you keep your hands washed.

A Rule for the road:

If you are running backups on your network, and you have not tested the restore process, how are you sure that your backups are running successfully? Your disaster recovery plan should include a monthly test of your restore process.

By Greg Richburg

Netricks, Inc.

http://www.netricks.com

About The Author

Greg Richburg a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and the owner of Netricks, Inc. a network consulting, web design and hosting company in California. Visit Netricks at http://www.netricks.com.

As well, Greg runs a web based distributorship for Ujena swimwear and clothing. Please visit http://www.klickcommerce.com and http://www.webbikinistore.com for details.

All past articles written by Greg Richburg are available at http://www.netricks.com/news. Please address article suggestions to: [email protected].

This article was posted on January 26

by Greg Richburg

The Importance Of Email Backup

The Importance Of Email Backup

by: Alexandru Marias

Viruses, software failures, power failures, human errors, hard drive failures are only a few examples of what could destroy the data on a hard drive, including all documents, pictures, emails and other files!
Most home computer users don’t need an expensive backup solution; as they only need to burn the folders with important documents and pictures to a CDRW from time to time; this ensuring that in case of a disaster they can easily get them back.
Togeder with documents and pictures, itกs a critical operation to save the emails, attachments, address book and other important data from within the email client; otherwise in case of a computer problem the user will find himself in the impossibility to get them back, and this can be a really unwanted situation especially for webmasters or people who rely on their emails. Unfortunately many people actually start to do backup copies only after they lose data.
This article will explain how one can create a Outlook Express Backup copy ( as Outlook Express lacks a backup function ) This email program is usually installed with the Windows operating system and is probably among the most commonly used email programs today. While using Outlook Express is fairly easy, finding and backing up the emails can be a little more complicated. Since there are a large number of files and folders on a computer running Windows, the first problem is to find the files containing the emails. Outlook Express stores emails in .dbx files and there might be several different dbx files depending on how many email folders you have created in Outlook Express. If you are using Windows 98, you can probably locate your emails somewhere in the Windows directory. In Windows 2000 and XP, emails are usually stored somewhere in the user data or application data folder.
The easiest way to find out exactly where your emails are stored is to start Outlook Express, go to the Tools menu, and open the Options dialog box. In the Options dialog box, select the Maintenance page and click the Store Folder button. Here you can find the path to the folder containing your emails. To open the folder, copy the path and paste in the address field of the Windows File Manager. You should see a number of .dbx files and possibly some other files, too.
After locating the email folder, you can simply select all the files and press CtrlC. Then open the folder where you want to keep the backup copies (on another hard disk, a DVD or a network drive, for example) in Windows Explorer, and press CtrlV.
To backup the Address Book, you can follow these steps:

Select Tools | Address Book… from the menu in Outlook Express.
Choose File | Export | Other Address Book… from the address bookกs menu.
Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) as the export format.
Click Export.
Select the location you want to export your address book to using the Browse… button.
Give your backup copy a meaningful name.
Click Next.
Select the fields you want to include in your backup.
Finally, select Finish.
Click OK.
Click Close to end the process (successfully, I hope).

Additionally, there are several email backup utilities which can make the backup operation much easier. Outlook Express Backup Genie is one piece of software that can offer peace of mind by creating compact backup copies of emails, attachments, address book, signatures, blocked list, mail rules and settings periodically. The difference between using a automatic email backup utility and manual backups, is that the first can be scheduled to create backups quiet in the background at specified time intervals, and that it will include all email information ( signatures, blocked list, etc ) which otherwise would be more difficult to save. Also if ever the backup is needed, the application will ensure that the restore process is made smoothly. And, it works with top 9 popular email clients. The downside of using a automatic email backup utility is that it costs money, usually about 2030 USD as one time payment, while the manual backups are ofcourse, free.
The conclusion is that either manual or automatic, backing up emails is a critical operation for every computer user that would regret losing them.
A trial copy of Outlook Express Backup Genie can be found at: http://www.amicutilities.com/outlookexpressbackup/

About The Author

Alexandru Marias

http://www.amicutilities.com

This article was posted on May 23, 2004

by Alexandru Marias

One Small Step for Man – One Giant Bill from Tech.

One Small Step for Man – One Giant Bill from Tech. Support

by: Peter McFraser

Beaming data to the moon—it sounds intriguing, but is it really the answer to offsite backup?

Dozens of businesses were unable to recover from 9/11. Having all of their files and backup data in one location added incredible economic damage to the already tragic losses of life. Should businesses anticipate a graver disaster than that of the World Trade Center?

Jumping forward ten, maybe twenty, years…

North Korea’s nuclear arsenal builds to an astounding 50,000 warheads (more than the USSR at the peak of the Cold War), the ozone hole exceeds 15 million square miles, and the war on terror wages on. Nevertheless, it’s business–as–usual back in the good old US of A. Investments grow, as does the price of gasoline and real estate. Cures for would–be–lethal diseases are on the brink of discovery, and space travel is available to anyone willing to pay.

Nobody saw it coming. Or more precisely, no one believed it would really happen. Astronomers warned of the day the asteroid would come. And it does.

Barreling through space at unheard–of speeds, the asteroid, aptly named ขthe end of days,ข smashes against the earth like a 400 billion ton hammer. Hundreds of thousands of lives are lost almost immediately. Dust and ash spread across the sky, and the earth whimpers as if the wind were knocked out of her. Over the coming months, the damage is address by the Red Cross like a troupe of girl scouts servicing the Normandy invasion. The economy is in shambles as consumer confidence falls through the floor…and then the basement.

Out of the smoke comes Dennis Laurie, CEO of TransOrbital. In a speech matched only by Sir Winston Churchill, or maybe even Morgan Freeman, he assures the world that rebuilding the economy is possible. The companies that had invested in TransOrbital by sending their backup data to the moon could fly past their competitors and reshape the new world. By retrieving data stored safely in space, these companies redefine the Fortune 500 and become the new leaders in the global economy.

Sound a bit hokey? That’s the claim TransOrbital makes in a recent PC Magazine article.

Laurie said, กSeptember 11 caused people to think about what data backup really means, and there is also always the threat of a natural disaster here on earth, such as a small asteroid hitting the planet.ก

Would it really work—data centers on the moon? The plan is to build serverfriendly environments that could provide the ขatmosphereข necessary for selfhealing servers. Small shelterlike structures that could keep a normal temperature, air pressure, etc. need to be built on the moon; currently, Tran Orbital is the only company with the licensing to do it.

While they’re up there, TransOrbital, using HewlettPackard technology, plans to make live digital images of the earth available on the web. They also offer to ship personal objects to the moon for safekeeping for a small fee of $2500 per gram.

The proposal certainly has its fair share of skeptics. The biggest argument being that the likelihood of an asteroid hitting the earth is miniscule compared to one hitting the moon. Earth’s atmosphere burns up most of the debris that would otherwise hit the surface, while the moon has no such protection. Others wonder about upgrading, repairs, and maintenance. As one reader put it, ขAt 75$ and hour and 30 cents per mile, that’s one hefty bill from tech support.ข

About The Author

Peter McFraser is a marketing representative of Exabyte, located in Boulder, Colorado. Learn more about how you can backup your data by going to http://www.exabyte.com/technology/summaries/backupdata.cfm.

This article was posted on February 23

by Peter McFraser