Amnesia happens pretty often on TV, but fortunately almost never in real life. To people, that is. Computers, on the other hand, can all too easily lose everything they ever knew.
Hardware failure, damage, or theft can wipe away your precious photos, documents, and music collection without a trace. The good news is that with a little knowledge about backing up your computer plus some planning, this won't happen to you.
At its simplest, backing up your computer is just making copies of your files (like pictures, videos, and word processing documents) and storing them away for safekeeping. For your backup plan, you'll need to consider:
- What do I need to back up?
- Where will I keep my backups? (CD ROMs or DVDs, external drives, or an online service are among your options)
- Should I back up manually or automatically?
What should you back up?
You probably don't need to back up everything on your computer. For example, the software applications you purchased are already stored on CDs, so these files are readily available if you need them.
The rule of thumb is to back up anything you would hate to lose (or can't afford to). Look through the files on your computer, and make a list.
- The My Documents folder (Windows* systems) is an obvious candidate, because that's where many applications store the files you create, unless you tell them to do otherwise.
- You may also want to back up e-mail. In Microsoft Outlook* you just need to back up the Outlook.pst file, located in Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Other mail applications have different procedures. For example, Microsoft explains the details of backing up Outlook Express* in How to back up and to restore Outlook Express data.
Where will you keep it?
Of course, you want your backup to still be around in case the hard drive dies (that's why it isn't a good idea to use your hard drive as a backup location), you leave your laptop at the airport, or life throws something else at you. So what else is available?
- Save your files on CD-ROMs or DVDs using your computer's built-in drive (if it has one). This is a great choice for manual backups, although less useful for ones that are automatically scheduled. Also, storage capacity is limited compared to an external hard drive.
- Buy an external hard drive (they start at under $100 and prices continue to go lower). It connects to your computer using a USB cable, which looks like this:
The external drive automatically displays in Windows Explorer*, and you can just copy files there like you would to any other location. When choosing a size, consider how many old backups you want to keep before erasing them and, to prevent problems, plan to leave at least 20 percent or so of the drive empty.
- Use an online backup service. If you store your backups near your computer, a single disaster like a fire or flood could destroy both the computer and the backups. That's why businesses usually store them somewhere other than at their main location. For a fee, you can take advantage of this same type of service from online companies, where you copy your files to their equipment for safekeeping. Many companies specialize in this type of backup for individual consumers, including backup.com, Iron Mountain, and iBackup.com. At prices that start around five to ten dollars per month this can be a good investment, creating peace of mind for many people.
Manual or automatic? The simplest way sounds charming at first.
With Windows Explorer, it's easy enough to select files and copy them to other locations, and for many of us this manual approach to backing up works just fine. However, one obvious weakness is that you have to remember to do it. And regular backups are imperative. That's because, if you ever need to replace any files, you'll be hoping the last manual backup you made is a pretty recent one. Otherwise, you'll have lost a lot of information.
The age of automation:
Of course, most of us already have plenty of chores to keep up with, from doing laundry to putting the tiki torches away after a formal dinner party. With so many things competing for your attention, automatic backups are much more appealing than their manual counterparts. Different versions of Windows, including XP and Vista, give you different tools to help. Mac users can find a great overview on backup procedures specific to the Macintosh* described in Mac OS X: How to back up and restore your files.
Vista backup and restore is at your command.
The Windows Backup and Restore Center, which launches from the Control Panel, is command central for managing backups in Windows Vista. A series of wizards let you set automatic backups, on a schedule you choose, of specific files and folders, or the whole system. Of course, automatic backups mean that the backup location has to be available at the scheduled time, which may pose a problem for some people, like laptop users, who want to use an external hard drive but may be on the go. You can always use the Backup and Restore Center to make backups on demand, though, as long as you tie a string around your finger to remember.
The shadow knows.
Another of the wonders of Windows Vista is its ability to time travel back before you accidently deleted your Aunt Agnes's cookie recipe or the photos from your daughter's prom. A feature called Shadow Copies lets you right-click a file or folder and select Restore Previous Versions. From there, it's a simple matter to display your long-lost materials and to restore them from the great beyond. Of course, this can't help you if your hard drive dies before its time, so it can't replace regular backups. Still, it can be a real life saver if you mistakenly change or delete a file.
XP* is no slouch either.
Windows XP users have a built-in backup program too, located in System Tools, inside the Accessories folder on the Start menu. This tool is automatically installed with Windows XP Professional, but Home Edition users will need to install it from the Windows CD. Microsoft has an article to help you out:
- How to Install Backup in Windows XP Home Edition. Once you open Windows XP Backup, you will see a Backup and Restore Wizard, which makes it very simple indeed to do one-time backups or to schedule them on a regular basis.
- Want to dig deeper? To get more in-depth, how-to information, Vista users should refer to Microsoft's Windows Backup and Restore Center. XP users can read Windows XP Backup Made Easy.
