What is the best way to backup my data on my PC?

Answer 1

All versions of Windows include backup programs—but they do not always install themselves by default (XP Home, for example).

To install the Windows backup program: Put the original installation disk in your CD drive and navigate to the folder called /Valueadd/msft/ntbackup.

You will see a file entitled ntbackup.msi. Double-click this file and it will install the free backup program. The free backup program will then appear in the Systems Tools folder (click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Systems Tools, Backup). You can now put (backup) the data on another computer, another hard drive, or a CD.

SyncBack is a really good program. Below is a link to a Freeware site that you can download it.
here the link where you can download it.
http://www.freeware-guide.com/dir/util/backup.html

frankly speaking there are a lot of free backup sollutions, but all of them have a greate minus - they don't have support, so if something goes wrong it's hard to find out what causes it
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

to my mind you shouldn't save money on such products, coz they deal with you data and as for me i must be sure that everything would be ok, so i recomend you to use True Image from acronis, it's a very good prog, i've already use it for 3 years and never had unresolvable problems.

so it up to you what to choose Good luck

Answer 2

My personal preference is an external drive (USB or FireWire) in conjunction with an incremental backup program (such as Retrospect) that backs up your entire system automatically as often as you want (every night, for example).

Maxtor OneTouch drives come with Retrospect, which I have have good luck with. Incremental backups mean that each night, only the data that has CHANGED needs to be written to the drive. So while your first backup may take a couple of hours, daily backups take a matter of minutes.

If your entire system goes down, you use the software to reinstall the entire backup image. Applications, data, and settings will all be restored.

Flash drives and burning CDs and DVDs are fine methods, but they suffer over time from user malaise - people just stop backing things up after a while. Then when their system crashes, they end up with a two-month-old snapshot of their data.

Answer 3

Although one answer attracted a negative result backing up to a USB (Flash Drive) is what a lot of our clients have gone for. You can get 2GB PENS now which can hold a load of data. The downside to that is that u must remember to run a backup!!!! Automated Backup packages are available. Windows comes with NTBACKUP that can set up a schedule to tape or File. Its not the best but it is free. Several of my clients happily use it.

Answer 4

The cheapest way is to install a second hard drive of equal size to the primary drive. Use RAID software to create a image to the second hard drive. If this is for insurance purposes then a USb hard drive would do or back up your hard drive to and off site computer via ADSL or cable. If your data is insured the insurance company will require an off site backup usually no more than 7 days old. I have set this up with two ADSL 256Kbps connections over "GoToMyPC.com". You can also do it over a free DynamicDNS service like www.NO-IP.com

Answer 5

External hard drives that plug into the USB port (socket) they come in all sizes now from 40 giga to 400 giga and even bigger if you really go mad, a 3.5 inch usually needs a transformer plug to power it but a 2.5 inch will run strait from the USB so you do not need any other equipment just the USB cable it comes with, on the other hand if your stuff is small, a simple SD card or USB stick would do.

Answer 6

www.mozy.com

This is the best free backup (2GB) service I had ever tried. All you have to do is to download a small program and then configure one time, Mozy will backup ALL your data automatically. One great advantage is, Mozy will scan and backup all new and modified data, without you selecting which to backup.

Retriving the data is also very very simple. If you are retriving one or two files, you get it almost immediately - this feature can be particularly useful if you realized you had forgotten to bring your thumbdrive out.

If you decided to sign-up, you can enter '[e-mail]' as your referrer. By keying in my email address as your referrer, you get another 256MB of storage space. Thus, you have 2.2GB to store your documents.

I strongly recommend you to use this free service.
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Answer 7

for lots of data, external hard drive on USB. Quick, capacious and robust.

for greater security, a cycle of three drives which you keep swapping round; at least one is always elsewhere.

DVDs are an option for small amounts of data but be sure you have a good writer and very good quality DVDs, because they do degrade over time.

Answer 8

BackupmyPc is great program for me. You can download in http://bit.ly/1j3wSic

Answer 9

depends on size of data
floppy 1.4 mb
flash drive up to 8 gb
media card s up to 2 gb
cd / dvd 650 mb up to 8.5 gb
or extra hard drive up to 350 gb
take your pick all work

Answer 10

Just copy it all onto an external Hard Drive