Do you back up your computer and how important is it?

Question

can you explain the differences between a full backup and an incremental backup. Have you ever lost important files because you did not back them up? If you have done a backup, did you copy the entire disk or just selected files? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Yes, i back up my computer. Yes, i think it is very important. A full backup is when you backup the whole files. An incremental backup is when you backup the changes to the files since the last full backup. For example, you perform a full backup today. A month later, you perform an incremental backup which backups any changes made in the last month. In order to restore your files, you will need the past full backup and the last incremental backup. Most people perform incremental backups to save space. A full backup can take several gigabytes - that's alot.

Yes, i have lost files and setting before, which could have been avoided if i had backup my files. You don't need to backup up your entire hard drive - though this is very easy to do. If you are using Windows XP, all you need to backup is the Documents and Settings folder. Windows XP comes with a free backup program called "NTBackup." It is automatically installed in Windows XP Pro but, if you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you have to manual install it. The program will be on your Windows XP Installation CD. There are plenty of free backup programs so you don't have to spend a fortune to backup your data. If you want some recommendations, just drop me an e-mail.

Answer 2

I have a USB external hard drive (they're getting cheap now... like $150 for 250GB) that I connect to my laptop every night. I'm a big fan of a program called Allway Sync (http://www.allwaysync.com/). I have it scheduled to backup my "Documents and Settings/my-profile" folder while I'm sleeping.

Then, I just make sure ALL my important files and backups are in my "My Documents" folder.

So far, it's helped me out twice. First when I got a new computer and wanted to duplicate some of my files on both computers, and Second when I had to ship my laptop back to the manufacturer for a repair and they reformatted my hard drive.

I'd recommend having a copy of your entire hard drive on that same drive, too. But, you don't have to do that every night. If your computer dies, most of those files will be useless or easily re-installed when you re-install your OS and software.

Answer 3

The easiest way I think is to copy your data files like documents and pictures to a CD for storage and some kind of remote device like an external or spare hard drive to back up your operating system.

Answer 4

Copy what is important to you. I do it by sending files to work.

Answer 5

Yes I do and it has saved my fanny more the once. I back up to a second hard drive so if and when my system crashes all my data is safe.