Hard Drive Backup Strategy

[isucyfan]

So, I just got a big old 1 TB external HD (great deal, too...ask if interested). I'm wondering if I should:

-Just back up docs, music, photos, etc.

-Back up the entire main HD of the laptop

-Make an image

-Something else I haven't thought of

What do you guys think is the most effective/painless way to plan for a data emergency??

 

[jbhtexas]

As long as space isn't an issue on the external, I'd do a complete backup or make some kind of image of the laptop. Would be the easiest way to restore...

 

[isucyfan]

As long as space isn't an issue on the external, I'd do a complete backup or make some kind of image of the laptop. Would be the easiest way to restore...

That's what I was thinking, but part of me would like to de-crapify if I reinstalled the OS, and not having everything in my backup would certainly accomplish that. I know that's backwards, but whenever I reinstall and slim down my system, it feels so good!

 

[Bader]

I personally would just back up docs and keep drivers on there for my NIC (internet card) rather than make an image of the machine.

This may not be the better option for you depending on how tech savvy you are, but I generally would rather just keep my data and start over with a fresh install when things go wrong

 

[jbhtexas]

That's what I was thinking, but part of me would like to de-crapify if I reinstalled the OS, and not having everything in my backup would certainly accomplish that. I know that's backwards, but whenever I reinstall and slim down my system, it feels so good!

Depends how much time you have to get things back up. If you can reinstall the laptop at a leisurely pace, then you can take the de-crapify approach. However, if you need to get the laptop back up quickly, and image seems better...

 

[tamjam]

I personally would get another 1TB drive and a Drobo, and then make all your backups. The Drobo will then duplicate your data so if 1 drive goes bad, you will still be okay. One backup drive is really not the ideal situation.

 

[isucyfan]

Depends how much time you have to get things back up. If you can reinstall the laptop at a leisurely pace, then you can take the de-crapify approach. However, if you need to get the laptop back up quickly, and image seems better...

That's a good way of thinking about this. I would probably have the luxury of time, since I can use my desktop in a pinch.

 

[TykeClone]

Depends how much time you have to get things back up. If you can reinstall the laptop at a leisurely pace, then you can take the de-crapify approach. However, if you need to get the laptop back up quickly, and image seems better...

I'd just backup the docs & data (and drivers/utilities as mentioned too!). If you've got to reinstall the machine, it's just as easy to to a nice clean install, decrapify it, and then move your stuff back in to where it belongs.

When backing up, don't forget to back up the stuff that likes to sometimes hide in different places than the "My Documents" folder - grab everything in the Documents and Settings area so that you get your e-mail and other stuff like that as well. And some programs (Quicken used to do this) like to store their data in their own folders - so be aware of that.

If space isn't an issue, it might be worth while to keep several generations of backups on the disk - set up jobs to auto copy stuff on Monday to one folder and on Tuesday to another. Or set the backup software to keep several revisions of a file when changes are detected. That can be a lifesaver if you make a mistake and accidentally delete or change something.

 

[dmclone]

I use Acronis® True Image. The software allows allows you to do about anytinhg.

You can do things like backing up just certain folders or everything, certain partitions, rollback to a previous date, Incremental and Differential Backups, etc.

It takes a little bit of studying to figure everything out but the next time I build a new PC here is what I plan on doing:

1 partititon for the OS
1 partition for music/pictures/video
1 for everything else

The I'll probably just back-up everything on the 1st 2 partitions. Like you said, it's nice having a clean install.

 

[jbhtexas]

When backing up, don't forget to back up the stuff that likes to sometimes hide in different places than the "My Documents" folder - grab everything in the Documents and Settings area so that you get your e-mail and other stuff like that as well. And some programs (Quicken used to do this) like to store their data in their own folders - so be aware of that.

Hidden stuff...that's why I like images for backup. But I usually take some time every few months to de-crapify my PCs...

 

[isucyfan]

I use Acronis® True Image. The software allows allows you to do about anytinhg.

You can do things like backing up just certain folders or everything, certain partitions, rollback to a previous date, Incremental and Differential Backups, etc.

It takes a little bit of studying to figure everything out but the next time I build a new PC here is what I plan on doing:

1 partititon for the OS
1 partition for music/pictures/video
1 for everything else

The I'll probably just back-up everything on the 1st 2 partitions. Like you said, it's nice having a clean install.

I got a free beta copy of Acronis, and have used it a bit. I plan to set it up with this new drive. Any suggestions on the best way to configure the software on an existing system?

Edit: My copy is Acronis True Image Home 2009

 

[dmclone]

I got a free beta copy of Acronis, and have used it a bit. I plan to set it up with this new drive. Any suggestions on the best way to configure the software on an existing system?

Edit: My copy is Acronis True Image Home 2009

To tell you the truth, I'm not really concerned if I lose something that's a couple weeks old so I just schedule it to do a full backup(not incremental) every couple of weeks and only keep 3 backups at one time(it will delete the oldest one automatically). I also schedule a separate backup of my photo and mp3 folder to my back up drive.

 

[isucyfan]

To tell you the truth, I'm not really concerned if I lose something that's a couple weeks old so I just schedule it to do a full backup(not incremental) every couple of weeks and only keep 3 backups at one time(it will delete the oldest one automatically). I also schedule a separate backup of my photo and mp3 folder to my back up drive.

I need to incrementally back up large documents I work on regularly for grad school, but I've been using Mozy for this, which works well.

I'm starting to think I'll image the entire HD through Acronis, and also keep a separate backup of just my data.

 

[dmclone]

I need to incrementally back up large documents I work on regularly for grad school, but I've been using Mozy for this, which works well.

I'm starting to think I'll image the entire HD through Acronis, and also keep a separate backup of just my data.

Probably a good plan. Like I said, Acronis gives you so many options that it can be confusing but once you have it set-up and scheduled you'll see that it's working. It sounds like doing daily incremental backups on your grad school documents and entire image backups every couple of weeks.

 

[isucyfan]

Probably a good plan. Like I said, Acronis gives you so many options that it can be confusing but once you have it set-up and scheduled you'll see that it's working. It sounds like doing daily incremental backups on your grad school documents and entire image backups every couple of weeks.

That's what I'm going to try. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

dmclone, have you ever restored anything through Acronis? I'm pretty sure that there's nothing proprietary about the way it saves backups. One thing I didn't like about Retrospect is that it created one big lump of a backup that you needed the software to decode when you wanted to restore. That's not ideal. I want to see my files.

 

[Wesley]

I use Acronis® True Image. The software allows allows you to do about anytinhg.

You can do things like backing up just certain folders or everything, certain partitions, rollback to a previous date, Incremental and Differential Backups, etc.

It takes a little bit of studying to figure everything out but the next time I build a new PC here is what I plan on doing:

1 partititon for the OS
1 partition for music/pictures/video
1 for everything else

The I'll probably just back-up everything on the 1st 2 partitions. Like you said, it's nice having a clean install.

I recommend your suggestion wholeheartedly.

 

[dmclone]

That's what I'm going to try. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

dmclone, have you ever restored anything through Acronis? I'm pretty sure that there's nothing proprietary about the way it saves backups. One thing I didn't like about Retrospect is that it created one big lump of a backup that you needed the software to decode when you wanted to restore. That's not ideal. I want to see my files.

Luckily-I haven't needed to use it but I believe you do need the software to open the files. I'll probably get this wrong because I haven't looked at it for a couple of years but I believe you can either create a bootable cd once you're in the software.