Fast, Easy Backups
For Win98 / ME / NT / 2K / XP
Copyright © 1997-2005 Fred Langa/ Langa Consulting LLC.
All worldwide rights reserved.
1) TOTAL IMMUNITY FROM DATA LOSS
This is the Holy Grail of Backups: A method that ensures you’ll never lose an important file; never have to rebuild your system and reinstall all your software from scratch; never have to re-type or recreate old data; never have that awful “Oh, no!” moment when you realize you need a file you deleted several weeks--- or even years--- ago.
Good backups do all that. They let you restore either a single file, or all files--- including system files--- back to a known-good state.
Some people think, “Well, I don’t have anything really valuable on my system.” But in my experience, just about everyone has *something* on their PC that they’d hate to lose. In some cases, it’s obvious--- business, tax, banking and other financial and legal records may have high value for three to seven years, or longer in some cases. But even PCs used informally or for recreation may contain important or valuable emails, family-heirloom digital photos or videos, creative works, and the like.
Your PC setup itself also has intrinsic value: As a LangaList subscriber, you probably invest a nontrivial amount of time getting your system “just right,” and just the way you want it. If you make the right kind of complete system backup when your PC is in perfect shape, or nearly so, then you can always return your system to that perfect state whenever you need to in the future. You’ll never, ever have to face a total reinstallation of Windows again. Should your system become unstable or corrupted, you can get it back to perfection in a matter of just minutes. (More info: see http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/2001/03.htm and http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/1999/0831.htm )
Having a full backup also means that should something very, very bad happen to your PC--- hard drive failure, lightning strike, motherboard failure, outright theft of the system--- whatever--- you’ll be able to get back up and running in a fraction of the time it might otherwise take. You can even use backups to assist in moving files to a new PC, when you get one, letting you get the new box set up and in use in a flash.
We’ve been covering a *lot* of info about backups in recent issues of the newsletter, and those prior discussions constitute essential background for understanding the context of what follows in this article. Please take a moment to refresh your memory:
Backups, Part One
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-26.htm#3
Backups, Part Two
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-26.htm#4
What About Backup To/From Tape?
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-19.htm#3
Tape Vs CDs
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010719S0003
What About "Go Back" and "Restore" Tools?
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-12-03.htm#1
Mobile Rack Storage
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-12-03.htm#2
Reader Backup Response
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-29.htm#2
Much More Backup Info:
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=backup&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000
New Recommendations For Backup Tools:HERE
Next: WHAT’S THE “BEST” BACKUP?
Previous Page Next Page
Table of Contents
|
