To backup or not to backup, this is the question!

By Robert Tallone

Information is power. Everyone working with a computer will know too well how long it takes to create or gather data. And regarding information, backing up is like insurance. You could do without it, but if a disaster strikes, you'll be happy to have some kind of coverage. Also like insurances, it can come in different flavour and cost more or less according to your needs. This is a quick guide to answer different questions that may arise:

Why backing up?
What to back up?
Where to backup?
When to backup?
Tips

Why backing up?

In today's silicon age, computers are playing a major part in our lives. Every business uses computers in one way or another. Be it for bookkeeping, accounting, applications, email, Internet…. you name it. For the rest of us, it has replaced the good old encyclopedia through the mine of information available online. Most of our messages come through Email; more and more advanced games are available. We can listen to music, watch and edit movies, transfer personal pictures…etc
And all the data is stored on your hard drive.
There is little need to argue the importance of backing up your computer files. Imagine if suddenly it all disappeared!
How? Well, there is the infamous electrical surge, mainly from lightening, burglary, accidental delete, data corruption, natural catastrophes, hardware failures and more.

So what to backup?

Depending on your situation and your needs, you would want to back up your business data, your Emails, your system settings your games scores, your music files, photos and so on.
You'll have to ask yourself what is important to you and even more what is essential
What to backup also depends on where you are going to backup? Nowadays, different options are available, all with pros and cons. This brings us to the question:

Where to backup?

From the cheap CD writer or DVD Writer to remote backup server, Raid arrays, cloned Hard drives, Zip drives, floppy disks, …no, just kidding. There are lot of choice.
For example, if your hard drive is 40GB worth of data and you only have a CD Writer, you'll need around 60 disks. A DVD writer will require 10 disks, while you'll need one hard drive to clone a perfect image of your HDD.
There is also a new way to backup: online backup server. For a monthly fee, you can purchase this service and fit it to your needs. The advantage: First, you can access your backup with the click of a mouse, and, your backup is available on a remote place.

When to back up?

Different types of backup exist.

First, regularly, you'll have to perform a full backup of the data you choose to save. This is called a “full backup”…go figure why?
In between “full backups”, you will then perform either an incremental or differential backup. Both save what has changed since your last full backup, but in a different way. The incremental backup will copy everything that has changed and marked it as been backup. Like that, next incremental backup will not have to copy these files again. Incremental backups are usually small and fast to perform. To do a complete restore, you will need the last full backup copy plus the entire incremental one you have made since.
The differential backs up everything that is different from the last full backup without marking it as being backed up. So the backup becomes larger every time. The full restore will then require only the last full backup plus the last differential one. Thus it is faster to restore.

Tips:

• Double your backup or even better have 2 different solutions in place.
• Remember to keep it fresh and remotely stored
• Where to find outlook folder-favorites-my documents-personal settings
• Try to centralize all your important data in the same place like “My Documents” or “my backup” for example. It will make it easier not to forget anything. i.e. You can move the store folder for outlook, your favorites… to “My Documents”
• Make at least 2 copies of your backup and store them safely in different places.
• Use rewritable media (CDRW – DVDRW - Hard Drives - Tapes…) but keep in mind they all can be reuse that many time. Make sure you can check the validity of your backup.

If you need some more information, do not hesitate to contact us at Right Click Computer Repair by calling (250) 760-1097 or by Email

Robert Tallone  is a computer expert and network  specialist . He is the author of different articles. He owns and operate a computer business in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada . He has a website http://www. rightclickhome.com Copyright 2005 Robert Tallone . This article may be reprinted freely only  if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.