Is there a easy way to back up all of my music and video files? I might have to start over & delete all.?

Question

My computer is slow and I think it has a virus. I think I have to start again by wiping out everything and starting all over like it is a new computer. What does it mean to zip a file? Will more fit onto a back-up disk? Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can copy all files, music, pictures to CD and then reinstall as needed. You should always back up all files of importance to you on regular schedule as a precaution to computer failure such as Hard Drive crash. It is not necessary to use zip file, this allows more data to be put on a disc or file, but has to be unzipped to use. You can also back up to a external hard drive.
Hope this helps

Answer 2

To zip a file means to compressed or decompress (extract) it. ZIP is a compression file format originated by PKZIP. Several compressions software programs are now available such as WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip, g-zip (Google), stuffit and others that can use this format and certain other formats. Some programs are free to download and use by individuals. There are many other file compression formats such as: CAB, ARJ, RAR, LZH , TAR, GZ and TAR.GZ, BZ2 and TAR.BZ2, ACE, UUE, JAR (Java Archive), ISO (ISO9660 - CD image), 7Z, Z (Unix compress). WinZip and WinRAR are perhaps the most commonly ones used.

For making archives or backups it is best to use one of the programs that is capable of spanning several floppy disks, CDs or DVDs. Otherwise, you will have to be careful of the total number of kilobytes or megabytes that are copied over to each of the removeable media. You can also copy them to another hard drive. The latter is usually the fastest way.

Windows XP has a fundemental backup program on the original installation disk. The "home" versions have to be installed separately. However, it only makes backups to another hard drive partition. So if yours is cramped for space, I would not recommend it.

There are many better backup programs on the market, too.Usually for a price.

Answer 3

if you have a dvd/cd writer then you could copy your files to either dvd or cd,

zipping file is easy, the zip program make the files smaller, so you can get more onto a DVD or CD Rom disk,

you can download winzip program from web link below

Answer 4

Maxtor One Touch drives - pretty easy , set it up and touch the button and it backs up the files you select.

Answer 5

yes use winzip to compress the files then burn them to cd or dvd.. hope this helps