Thank you very much for these tips. They're good indeed! -Kartik
On 10/2/10, Waseem <[email protected]> wrote: > Everybody always tells you to make sure that you are backing up your PC, but > what does that really mean? And what files do you actually need to backup? > Today I'll walk you through the basics of backing up your PC, what you > should back up, and why. > > Of course, these rules won't fit every scenario, so you'll need to use a > little common sense-think about what is most important to you on your PC, > and make sure that you've figured out how to backup those files. > > You might think this is obvious, but you'd be surprised how often I've been > approached by friends that lost their data after their "backup" drive died. > > What Should You Use for Backing Up Your PC? > There are lots of different applications that you can use to make backups of > your files, and there's even one built into Windows. It doesn't matter which > tool you use as long as it does a decent job of creating backups. > > Local Backups > It's important to create local backups to an external drive or another PC > for speed of restoring files should something bad happen, and also because > this is going to be the quickest way to create backups. > > I've also got guides to show you how to use Backup and Restore in Windows, > GFI Backup, Macrium Reflect, and even Simple Backup in Linux-but the tool > isn't that important-what you are backing up is. > > Online Backups > There are a number of paid online backup services like Mozy, Carbonite, > Spideroak, and Jungledisk, and there are also some file sync services like > Dropbox and SugarSync that provide backup type of capability. These are all > excellent secondary backup services, but probably shouldn't replace a > regular backup just because they will take a long time to restore. > > Note: if you're looking for a great way to keep a folder in sync between PCs > and accessible from anywhere, Dropbox rocks. I love it. Otherwise, you > should probably check out Mozy, since it has a unique ability to create > local backups as well as online backups. > > System Image Backups > Rather than simply backing up files, you can create a complete backup of > your system that can be restored over top of your system. The only problem > with creating these type of backups is that they require a real lot of drive > space. The best bet is to create an image when your system is up and running > and everything is installed, and then you can use it to more easily restore > everything rather than reinstalling everything manually. > > We've got guides to help you create a system image using the built-in tools > in Windows 7 or Vista, how to restore from that system image, how to make a > drive image using an Ubuntu Live CD, or even how to do it with a freeware > application called DriveImageXML. If you're looking for a paid solution that > works really well, you can check out Acronis. > > What Files Should You Backup? > The most important files to backup are probably your documents, pictures, > music, and other user files, but they are not the only files that you need > to backup. Let's walk through some of them. > > a.. Documents: You should backup your entire documents folder all the > time. This should be a no-brainer. > b.. Music: If you've paid lots of money for MP3 downloads, you'll probably > be sad to lose them. Make sure to include this folder. Note: if you're an > iTunes user, you should make sure to backup your iTunes folder, which is > thankfully usually inside this directory. > c.. Pictures & Videos: It's really sad when I get emails from Friends > saying their hard drive died and they lost all their pictures of their > family. The photos might not have actually costed you anything, but you'll > probably be more sad about losing memories than paying for music downloads > again. > d.. Desktop Email: If you're using Outlook or Windows Live Mail, make > absolutely certain that you've backed up the files from these applications. > Outlook stores all your email in a .PST file, and here's how to find it. > e.. Application Settings: If you look within the AppData folders, you'll > see directories for each and every application you're running. These > settings can often be restored from a backup so you don't have to tweak > everything again. Just head into C:\Users\Username\AppData\ to see the > Local, Roaming, and LocalLow folders that contain many settings for your > applications. > Virtual Machines: If you use virtual machines for real work, you should > probably create a backup of your virtual machines at some point. We wouldn't > necessarily recommend backing these up every single night, but you should at > least consider some type of backup plan. > f.. Bookmarks: Most browsers other than Internet Explorer actually make it > difficult to backup your bookmarks using Windows Backup, but the much better > option is to sync your bookmarks to the cloud. Naturally, we've got a full > list of all the bookmark syncing services that you can use. If you'd rather > use local backup, you can simply backup the application settings folder and > restore that-this works especially well for Firefox in my experience. > Backup These Files More Easily > Instead of trying to find all those locations, backup your entire Users > folder, which is at C:\Users\Username in Windows 7 or Vista, and > C:\Documents and Settings\Username for Windows XP. This will include all of > those files, unless you've stored them somewhere else. > > Files You Should Not Bother Backing Up > There's simply no reason to backup these directories: > > a.. Windows: There's almost never a reason to backup your Windows > directory, as you're going to have to reinstall the whole thing anyway, so > this backup will likely do you no good. > b.. Program Files: You're going to have to reinstall your applications if > your computer dies and you have to reinstall. Why bother backing up all > these files? > It's worth noting that if you create a system image backup, you won't have > to reinstall all of your applications, and backing up these folders would > still be pointless. > > When should you backup? > The best bet is to backup your files on a fairly regular basis--daily if > possible. If you're using an online backup solution, they are often > configured to immediately start syncing any changed files when your PC is > idle for a little while. This can be a great way to keep your files safe > without having to wait for the next backup. > > Hopefully these tips will help you backup your files and keep you protected. > Be sure to check out our checklist guide for reinstalling Windows in the > unfortunate event that you do need to start over from scratch. > > Don't forget the most important rule: any important data should exist in two > or more physical locations at once. > > > > Warm Regards > MohammadWaseemKhan > Land: 01165154282 > Mob: 9213749272 > Emails > [email protected], > [email protected], > [email protected]. > MSN: [email protected] > Skype: sweetboy250 > Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with > disability bill at: > http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm > > To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. 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