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Jon
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 183
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MarkS
Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2626
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Jb
Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 7761 Location: 91� N
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45389 Location: Essex
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 7184 Location: South Kent
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Posted: Tue Sep 11, 07 11:43 am Post subject: Re: back up pc |
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Jon wrote: |
Couple of questions for those in the know, if you dont mind.
Im thinking of getting an external hard drive to use to back up my pc.
Is it possible to back up all the files by just clicking one button, |
Yes. https://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/storage/0,1000000998,39167303,00.htm
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... rather than having to drag and drop files into the new hard drive, |
not the best choice, not the only alternative, but WAY better than nothing
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... and maybe having a setting where it will automatically back up say maybe once a month, |
now you are getting into the arena of 'scheduled' back ups, which could be automated rather than requiring buttons to be pressed...
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... automatically updating any new files, |
Important point here. Two different concepts. 1/ Take a complete snapshot of your main drive every time. Needs space and time, but simple - and has the potential to get you running again as quickly as possible. And 2/ an 'incremental' backup, where having done one snapshot of the target directories, you then backup *only* the changes. This is quicker, but (I believe always) means that you have to run the backup program's Restore option to get something that works - and you need a working machine to run the restore from - see the problem?
I'd suggest that the important thing is to have a rigid separation between *your data* (which is the essential stuff to have a copy of, 'cos there's no way of replacing it unless you do) and your working environment (OS, software programs... ) which you *could* reinstall (if absolutely necessary, by repurchasing) but which it would be convenient to be able to restore simply.
And then you can apply different strategies to the different types of stuff. But they need to be kept apart so that you can get to them easily!
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... can anyone recommend a make and model of hard drive that will allow me to back up all files as above if possible. |
IMHO, the backup software and strategy is more important than the specific hardware involved (granted a certain level of reliability).
But its probably Maxtor's Onetouch package that you have been attracted by. |
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Jon
Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 183
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 7184 Location: South Kent
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