How do you backup your system?

I doubt MS would "change NTFS format"... more likely, come out with a new format at some point. NTFS will be around for at least as long as WinXP.

 

So am I correct in thinking I can back up 2 PC's and a MAC to 1 huge external drive, or do I need separate external drives for each computer?

Does the external need more than one partition?

 

1. Good idea to use a separate partition for each PC's image.

2. As for also having a Mac on the same HD... I don't think that will work. You might need a separate HD for it. (Can you format one HD for both Mac and MS patitions?)

 

Hi Sherlock,
I used PowerQuest a lot till about one year ago. I became allergic to Norton because of the many problems I used to have with their antivirus. So I dumped Norton 100% and went to Acronis TrueImage. I never looked back and find Acronis the best (I did not use Casper).

Under linux, partimage is also not bad if handled properly. It is by far not as polished as Acronis though.

 

anyone here use or have an experience with a remote backup? - i have looked into it recently, it seems ok, my only concern was the safety of data with the backup provider as well as their business stability etc. - after reviewing a couple of providers, i found one (can't remember their name) that lists blue chips like p&g and ibm as their clients, which looked ok to me - i am still thinking about this possibility (currently just backing up my pc onto CDRWs as i don't have that much current data, all older stuff archived on CDRs)

 

nononsense, thx fo rshairng.

So you use acronix. Do you back up to CDs or to an external HDD or both?

Any recommendations for good HDDs or CDs?

Thanks again.

 

Backing up starts with the first installation on the HD.

Install windows on your HD and make a disc image of this setup on CD’s.

Make start up cd’s.

Install all the other software you want to use and make another disc image on CD’s.

All the images made on CD’s are also made on a second HD that is never connected with the system, except for making the disc images. In this way viruses cannot get on the second HD.

Make every week at least one complete disc image of the HD on the second HD.

I use Acronis True Image for more than a year for making the disc images. Works perfectly and I have tested putting back the images to be sure the back ups were good.

Restoring a complete system takes about 10 minutes for 5 Gb.

I have a second PC with the identical software. So if my first PC goes down I can continue within minutes on my second PC.
I have one PC connect via cable and the second via DSL. So if the internet goes down I can try my second connection that goes through another ISP and works with another technology.

 

Spike

Not entirely true that viruses cannot get onto the second HD.

It totally depends where the virus is located on the primary HD and how you get rid of it before you connect the second HD.

May I suggest that when doing a restore because of suspected virus that you first boot from CD and then restore using the CD image, then check if you got rid of the virus. If anything detected the get rid of it with the appropriate tools.

Next start all over again: boot from CD, restore, update to the latest anti-virus / anti-trojan / anti-spy software and check again to make sure that it is really clean.

I have been caught badly because there was a virus in the bootsector / partition table of the primary HD.

In additition do not ever use the "reset" button but shut the PC down "cold". This because you do not want anything that is present to have a chance of writing to HD or stay in memory. (basically pull the plug at the wall. With a laptop: take the battery out then pull the power)

The above shut down / restore procedures have saved me a lot of grief. (In other words: before you connect the second HD make sure that the machine is really clean)


Sherlock

 

part 2

No need to make every week a complete backup.

My setup is that I have encryption software which makes a "virtual HD".

The "virtual HD" needs to be "mounted" (made accessible) and once a day I synchronise "my" data ("My Documents" and other directories that have data that change) to the "virtual HD". For this I use robocopy (part of the Windows Resource disk) and that takes less than 1 minute.

And I only backup the partition / HD when I have made changes to the programs / setups etc. (normally once every three - four weeks).

The file that is the "Virtual HD" gets archived on second HD (every day) and once a week to CD.

Hope this helps
Sherlock

 

HD cloning....

I have 2 HDs mounted so I can do a quick clone at any time (<1 minute with Casper XP 3.0, <3 minutes with Acronis True Image).

I also have 2 other HDs (out of the machine) which I rotate with the 2nd HD to keep all fairly current