Mrs. Muddled Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 I popped in to Staples today to see what they had to offer in the way of backups for my computer. I've been using a flash drive for some of my files ... but I'd really like to have something that backed up everything we have. I also don't want to spend a bundle. There is quite a variety of prices. One the sales guy was pushing was a Maxtor One Touch 111 USB 2.0 $169.99 200GB. He tells me this product is good value for the money. They had more expensive ones that backed up a lot less. Do you know anything about these? Your thoughts. I'm wanting something I don't have to fuss with. Think one button and it's done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nortk Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 I have a One Touch as well. But basically the "one touch" seemed to be a button that triggered software I had to install on my computer. So, it seemed like using the one touch button made me use their own software. So, I use the One Touch drive, but not the one touch button. Instead, I use separate software that I prefer for backing up my software. I've been very happy with Acronis True Image software, which can either save an image file of your entire drive, or back up individual files/directories. My two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmanmcp Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 An External HD is the way to go for backing up your computer. I use an External USB and Ghost to backup all my computers. Now the $169 for the Maxtor maybe a bit high, I would check other stores and buy find the largest drives with the lowest price. I see Best Buy has a 500GB for $199 or a $139. As for the "one button" nothing is ever "that" simple, yes you can push the button and it will start the drive and the software, but you still need to make selections and do a little setup to tell it exactly what you want to do. What drive you want and what type of backup and so on. I personally won't use the software that comes with the drives because these are usually simple program with very few options. I perfer a full featured program like Nortons Ghost or Acronis True Image. But maybe the One Touch will be right up your alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Muddled Posted August 29, 2006 Author Share Posted August 29, 2006 Thank you for taking the time to reply to my question. My knowledge of the back up process is somewhat (totally) limited. I just know that I want my entire computer backed up ... just because I do. I'm a little confused about "why" I would need to decide on a variety of options to back up. Isn't it simpler to just back everything up? Why would I want to pick and choose? Can you fill me in on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 One other thing to keep in mind is to ask yourself "Do I need to back up everything?" If you made a backup of your computer when you first purchased it, or have the program disks, all you really need is to back up the data. You can shop around online for the best drive per madmancp's suggestion and avoid the salesman's "pushyness". Then, armed with that information, make your selection. Example: My father, who's a pack rat anyway, told me that he recently backed up his computer onto 35 CD's. I told him that since he still had the installation CD's and other programs on separate disks, he should just back up his data. The total number of disks needed went down to 14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmanmcp Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 I'm a little confused about "why" I would need to decide on a variety of options to back up. Isn't it simpler to just back everything up? Why would I want to pick and choose? The why is the first question you need to ask yourself. What are you trying to accomplish and why are you backing up in the first place. There are several reasons for a backup and several ways to to accomplish it. You can do a "FULL" backup which can be used in case the hard drive is lost and you need to restore everything back to the way it was before it was lost. Or you can restore just the data you need by backing up just your inportant data like Steve mentioned. With the One Touch I believe you are limited, its all or nothing deal. If you've just lost or delete a very important file and only need that file back, you would need to restore the whole whole hard drive. I think its easier just to restore the single file. With the full restore there is also the problem of how often you backup and how current it is. If its a couple of months old then you may have lost several other important items that were done between the last backup and now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail Posted August 30, 2006 Share Posted August 30, 2006 Hi MM, Like many folks, I just backup my data. I have many sub-folders in 'My Documents' and I save my files in the appropriate sub-folder. Then I backup 'My Documents' as one profile (Second Copy). I use Second Copy as my backup program - I have used it for some years now. It isn't that difficult to set up. I also backup Photos, Video Clips, Quicken data. These are separate profiles I have set up in Second Copy. I use an External Hard Drive for my backups. I have my CD's for Windows XP and my programs - my thinking is I can always reinstall the operating system and the programs from the CD's if something happens to the hard drive. This way - I would be starting fresh also which isn't a bad idea. HTH Gail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Muddled Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 (edited) Hi Gail! I checked out Second Copy. Not a bad idea. I think that's exactly what I need. It looks simple enough to work with. When you use the compression option - just how small would that make things? Would attempting to back up the compressed files to the CD drive be a bit iffy? I get everyone's point about "why" do I think I need to back EVERYTHING up. I guess I came to this conclusion because everything I read reminds me to "back up - back -up back up!" I figured I'd better back the entire works up, because sure as God made little green apples - a disaster would happen and I would discover I had not backed up something I now wanted to use. Your comment about backing everything up to an external hard drive. Makes more sense than backing stuff up on this hard drive. Can you elaborate on that a bit? How does that compare with my using flash drives? What kind of an external hard drive do you suggest? Are they horrifically expensive? How big are they? Can you plug one in to the USB ports on the front of the tower - or do they have to be plugged in to the back? MM Edited September 2, 2006 by Mrs. Muddled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Backing up to the same hard drive as you are running from is great for temporary storage. But if you hard drive crashes, what good is it? You won't be able to access the backup if you can't access the hard drive in the first place. USB flash drives are also great for making backups. Problem with USB flash drives is getting one large enough to accomodate what you are backing up. If you have more than 2GB of stuff you want backed up it will get quite expensive. Was in Best Buy today and saw a 4GB flash drive for $149. I could get an external USB hard drive of 120GB for the same price. As for can you plug a USB hard drive into the front of your computer, yes, you can as long as you have a USB port in the front. Burning compressed files to a CD is no different than burning any other file to a CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Muddled Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 (edited) Thanks Bruce. What you say makes perfect sense. I think I will take a wander over to Best Buy and see what's available. I would not have stored my backups on this computer. Even "I" am smarter than that! (insert grin here) My computer consists of this. Would I need a 120 G back up? Wouldn't a 60 or 80 G be enough ... or am I missing something obvious here? 1.70 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 8 kilobyte primary memory cache 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache 40.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 25.56 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space ST340016A [Hard drive] (40.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 3HS0CPGB, rev 3.05, SMART Status: Healthy Edited September 2, 2006 by Mrs. Muddled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Muddled Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 AcomData 60GB 2.5" USB 2.0 PHOTON Hard Drive, External Item Number 634007 This is at Staples Canada. $149.80. Would this be adequate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I get everyone's point about "why" do I think I need to back EVERYTHING up. I guess I came to this conclusion because everything I read reminds me to "back up - back -up back up!" I figured I'd better back the entire works up, because sure as God made little green apples - a disaster would happen and I would discover I had not backed up something I now wanted to use. The "back up - back -up back up!" warnings generally refer to your data, assuming you have your programs already on disk. Take your website for example. Would you back up the entire shared server or just the data of your website? Your comment about backing everything up to an external hard drive. Makes more sense than backing stuff up on this hard drive. Can you elaborate on that a bit? How does that compare with my using flash drives? What kind of an external hard drive do you suggest? Are they horrifically expensive? How big are they? Can you plug one in to the USB ports on the front of the tower - or do they have to be plugged in to the back? The bottom line is if you still want to back everything you'd want one at least as large as your hard drive. (Makes sense, eh? ) You can get drives that plug into your USB port or use a flash or thumb drive like what Bruce described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 It appears that you have an 80GB hard drive in your computer. You can buy a much larger drive at a minimal cost But you can also use the same drive to store photos, music, etc... and not have them stored on your internal hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Muddled Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 Hmm? I thought I had a 40 GB hard drive. I've checked out Norton Ghost - Acronis True Images and Second Copy. Second copy is a lot cheaper. I think I will add Second Copy to whatever external hard drive I decide on so that I have options of what I back up. Lets face it ... there is all sorts of junk on the computer that I don't need and wouldn't want to reinstall automatically if the BIG CRASH ever did happen. Your various comments have helped. I am appreciative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Hmm? I thought I had a 40 GB hard drive. My mistake you do have a 40GB drive. 25GB is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nortk Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 By the way...you had asked whether/why someone would want to back up EVERYTHING...I like to occasionally take a "snapshot" of my drive...backing it up byte by byte. More than once I've been in a situation where some kind of software had wreaked havoc on my drive. Using Windows restore points didn't save me from some of those situations. But, having an image from a time when my hard drive was clean...that was my savior. Personally, I believe you should find a balance between fully backing up, and backing up individual documents...the latter of which probably should be done more frequently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 Hi MM, I don't use the compression option with Second Copy so I can't really answer your question concerning this option. I bought a 160 GB Maxtor external hard drive (plugs into a USB port) at a local computer shop (Benchmark Computers) and the case for $166.75 Canadian dollars - this included the taxes. They sell the drive and case separate (the case is a Nex Star) - the tech told me it saves about $50.00. They did put the hard drive in the case for me. I have 2 hard drives in my computer - a 40 GB and a 120 GB which is where I store my Photos and Videos. I had the tech partition the external hard drive the same - one partition is 40 GB and one is 120 GB. It only took him a few minutes to do this task. This makes it really easy for setting up my backup Profiles in Second Copy. I use 'Exact Copy' as the copy mode in Second Copy. I use my Reminder Program to tell me to turn on the external hard drive every evening at a certain time and I have set the backup times for the profiles to begin after this time. Gail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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