Back-ups

Are there any total drive back-up programs I can get that are fairly simple to use? I'm running two (2) H-Ds in my computer. Thanks for any input. Dinky

 

I use an online service called Carbonite. It's about as simple as it gets -- you just install it and then never have to even think about it. You get unlimited backup storage for permanently installed drives.

This is a _lot_ better than fussing with burning tons of backup DVDs, etc. Since your data is stored offsite you don't have to worry about a fire or flood destorying your drives _and_ your backups.

The only downside is you have to pay for it. I believe it's $50 a year. Also, only your files are backed up, not the operating system. If you lose a drive you will still need to reinstall your installed programs before recovering your data.

With the recent software upgrade they did just last week I have absolutely nothing bad to say about them. Before then, it wouldn't back up exe's, .dll's, .obj's and such without you having to manually flag each one of them. Being a programmer I really needed those backed up. But now everything's great.

-core

 

If you are wanting a "constant - realtime" backup, I would suggest setting your hard drives up in raid 1. If you have the capability that is. Raid 1 will keep a realtime image of your first drive, on your second drive. That way if one of the drives fails, you've got an exact copy of the drive that failed.

To do this you would have to have a raid controller built into the motherboard or use an expansion card to achieve this. Most newer motherboards come with some form of raid built in.


As for backup programs that do this....I'm not real familiar with any. Usually if you're just backing up data, you won't copy the whole drive. So that's why raid sounds like a good option for you.

 

The only problems with RAID 1 are:

- All disk writes are going to be slightly slower. This is acceptable for most folks but if you are writing very large files such as when doing video editing, authoring DVDs, etc, you may want to get yet a third non-raid drive for such things.

- Backup is phyiscally right next to the other one and therefore subject to the same physical damage. Fire as I've already mentioned, or maybe dropping a piano on your machine?

- If you have to replace your motherboard, or the CMOS battery dies, be prepared to fight with it all over again. My father is the type that likes to tinker with his machine to "learn". Recently he upgraded the BIOS and lost all settings in the process. By this time he had forgotten the 5-6 settings relating to RAID that he changed two years ago and we had a nice 3 hour time trying to get things working again. If it was a different mobo brand things could have been even worse.

 

I find that using the program "Ghost" to create an image of your hard drive, burns it on CD's or DVD's work great. You can take those disks and store them off-site if you like, or just have it as a backup at home.

The great thing about using Ghost is that if your drive got corrupted let say with a virus, then you can re-image your drive back to the way it was, without re-loading a bunch of updates, and software.

There are many other ways to do backups, as mentioned in the other posts. This is just another suggestion.

 

This is all very true.....things that must be taken into consideration.

 

In reviews, Acronis True Image gets better points than Ghost.
Ease of use is first. Norton can be a PITA.
I use Acronis with an external drive.

 

Norton is a PITA.

I use two external USB drives to mirror my data and source (setup & driver) files. One lives at home in the closet and the other lives in my desk at work. They're both drag 'n' drop.

I don't care about backing up operating systems or hardware. Both can easily be replaced with some new parts, a couple of CDs, and a few hours of tweaking.

 

dinky,
I highly recommend a product called "SyncBackSE" by 2BrightSparks http://www.2brightsparks.com

There's a one time charge of $30 (per machine) to purchase it but that gives you updates and support.

This software allows you to set up a schedule (as you wish) to do a complete mirror image back-up of your hard drive or select certain files of your choice. The best part is the back up can be viewed and accessed just like the main drive; so if you want to just grab one file off the back-up drive, a lot of files or all of them, you can........ Of course, you will need another hard drive!

The SyncBackSE software is very functional, extremely easy to use, easy to set up and the updates come in automatically. And when they do give you an update, your current schedules are not deleted or changed.

It's the best thirty bucks I've ever spent! I run a complete back-up every Sunday evening at about 4:00 am. It really gives me peace of mind knowing I have a good back-up.
Phil