It's hard to give step-by-steps without knowing your exact setup. First you need something to put the back-ups on. Mostly your options are: 1. another computer (if it's got enough room on the hard drive to hold your backups) 2. blank CD's or DVD's that you can burn the backup files onto. 3. a USB thumb drive which you can buy for maybe $10 to $30. 4. an external USB hard drive which will cost anywhere from about $50 up. 5. upload the backup files to a backup website. You'd have to google "online backup" to find one (I don't know much about them).
So it's impossible to give exact instructions without knowing which method you choose. As for "what" to backup - mainly your personal files - like your pictures. Also any music files you bought or downloaded. Any documents you've created like letters, or business correspondence. Also, but not as important, you might wanna backup your internet bookmarks, and email. If you use an online email like gmail or MS Livemail, or Yahoo mail, you don't need to back it up since your mail is all online. Personally, I use an external USB hard drive that I plug in about once a month and copy all my personal files onto. I also back them up onto a USB thumb drive. (Always a good idea to have 2 backups - just in case). So once you figure out which method you wanna use, repost for more instructions. Good luck, Donk On 3/16/2011 3:10 PM, Shawn and wrote: > Wow! Thank you Donk and Mike! I sure appreciate the information. I'm going to > try what you suggested and I will let you know how it turns out. > I have another question - I know this sounds silly but how do I back up my > files, and what all should I back up? Computers are great, but I have no idea > what I'm doing when it comes to the technical workings, and I am really > worried about doing damage that can't be un-done. I have a LOT of pictures on > my hard drive that I don't want to lose. Could you tell me please, step-by > step, how to back my stuff up? > > Thanks so much! > > Wendy > > --- In [email protected], mike bader<mdbader@...> wrote: >> Belklin IMO is a good router. >> I agree check for viruses. >> Use more then one program. >> Roku sometimes needs to be rebooted as well. >> Vista and printers have issues. >> Make sure you have the latest updates. >> Defrag the hard drive etc. >> Clean your startup and temp files. >> Have you contacted AT&T? >> They have problems in this area and can check it quickly remotely >> as to speeds and history. >> There could also be a neighbor with a wireless router on your channel. >> >> mike bader >> >> On 3/14/2011 6:53 PM, Donk wrote: >>> Hi - I'm not sure you really have a router problem. You mentioned that >>> even before the router switch you were getting connection errors when >>> surfing? So, maybe it could be an At&t problem? Anyway, here are some >>> things to check about your wireless (I'm assuming it's all wireless?) >>> network: >>> 1. If you have any cordless phones in the house (not cell phones, but >>> cordless land-lines) it's very possible their signal is screwing up your >>> router's signal. Also, any other similar electronic device - like a >>> baby monitor, maybe, can mess you up. Also, if you have nearby >>> neighbors with cordless phones, etc., your signal can be affected. I've >>> seen it happen more than once. >>> The fix for this can be either changing the freq channel your phones use >>> (if possible), or changing your router's channel by accessing its setup >>> utility in your browser. There should be maybe 10 channels that you can >>> experiment with - some might make it worse. >>> >>> 2. Some of the other stuff you mention - like not being able to attach >>> pics to email, or just opening pics on your hard drive - wouldn't have >>> anything to do with your router or At&t. Stuff like that would suggest >>> either a virus infection, or a dying hard drive, or maybe just some >>> corrupted Vista system files. To try to sort out which of those 3 >>> things, I would first try running a test of the Hard Drive. But first - >>> be SURE to backup any personal files you don't want to lose! If a hard >>> drive is already going south, sometimes running a test will finish it >>> off for good. In Vista: >>> >>> Go to Start button, click on Computer. >>> Right-click your C: drive, and choose Properties. >>> Click the Tools tab, and click "Check Now". >>> Make sure both options are checked: Autofix errors, and Attempt Recovery >>> of bad sectors. >>> >>> It can take quite a while to finish - especially if you've got a big >>> drive. You might be asked to reboot, but when it's done you'll see a >>> report. If you see any errors or bad sectors listed, it's time to >>> backup and start thinking about a new hard drive - even if the errors >>> were "fixed". >>> If the drive checks out 100% fine, then I would maybe suspect a virus >>> infection. You can run a bunch of AV and Malware apps to try to clean >>> it. But you might eventually just have to reformat the drive and start >>> fresh. I think your HP has a hidden recovery partition on the drive >>> that will restore it to factory default in just a few minutes. Of >>> course "everything" you've added since you bought it will be lost. But, >>> try hitting the power button, and immediately holding down CONTROL, and >>> keep rapidly tapping F11. You should come to a menu giving you options >>> to restore the hard drive. >>> >>> The printer thing might be related to the above mentioned probs. But, >>> IMO, windows has never been very good working with printers. The print >>> queue is always getting jammed up and it's sometimes impossible to clear >>> it - even by rebooting. If you Google something like "how to clear >>> Vista print queue" you'll find instructions on how to clear the queue. >>> Other than that, your print prob might be related to a virus or bad hard >>> disk. >>> >>> Good luck, >>> Donk >>> >>> >>> >>> On 3/14/2011 3:44 PM, Shawn and wrote: >>>> Hello! >>>> >>>> I have an HP w1907 with Vista. I know, you're probably laughing and >>>> thinking that's the problem entirely, but seriously I could sure use some >>>> knowledgeable help. >>>> 1.We have AT&T for our Internet service, the second fastest level (the >>>> fastest isn't available in our area yet), and we've got a Belkin Surf N300 >>>> wireless router hooked up so that we can watch movies through a Roku >>>> device. When we first started using the Roku it was great, but then our >>>> old router quit and we bought the new Belkin. It seemed to work okay at >>>> first, but now our Internet is painfully slow (not much better than >>>> dial-up) and the Roku keeps losing the signal from the router. That we can >>>> deal with, but I guess the biggest problem is something that started >>>> before the router swap. When we are on the Internet and try to open a new >>>> page, or click on a link to go somewhere, we get messages saying that >>>> either we've lost our connection, or that Internet Explorer has stopped >>>> working and will now close. >>>> 3. We can no longer attach pictures to our e-mails, or upload them to >>>> places like Facebook and we sometimes get messages when trying to access >>>> the pictures stored on our hard drive - I can't remember the exact message >>>> but it seems like it had to do with comm (?). >>>> 4. Getting our printer, a Kodak ESP 5250, to work is sketchy at best and >>>> usually involves shutting the system down - sometimes we have to push the >>>> power button on the computer to do this because it won't shut down. Even >>>> after getting it all shut down and re-started the printer still sometimes >>>> will not print. If we're lucky the printer starts printing whatever is >>>> waiting in the printer folder(?)when the computer finishes booting up. If >>>> not, we start the shut-down/re-start process again. >>>> Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm guessing we need a different router >>>> - but I really don't know what to look for when we do buy one. For now we >>>> would only be using the router for the Internet on one or possibly two >>>> desktop computers and for the Roku player. >>>> Any help would be greatly appreciated! >>>> >>>> Thanks so much! >>>> Wendy >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------------ >>>> > ------------------------------------ If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please feel free to contact me directly [email protected] Please do not post personal issues directly to the group. To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to [email protected] Thank you for using A-1 Computer TechYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/join (Yahoo! 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