Back up system.

Which type do you use as a back up system and why do you feel it is best?

I have a Iomega Zip drive and it is nothing but a pain, has not worked right since I upgraded computer several month ago. Yes I have all the current drivers.

I can get into it but not out of it.

Considering going to external hard drive as back up.

Want to hear what others use and why they feel it is best or worst.

I use software called "Ghost" that makes an exact image of my hard drive. Then, I copy the image off to a separate, internal hard drive. If I have a serious failure, I can restore the image and be up to where I was in a matter of about 15 minutes.

I have a 250mb Zip drive, and I too am not a huge fan of it.

I was thinking about using a CD burner...........has other uses besides just backing up.

I have that Ghost program, came with my Norton package........never used it. I'll have to check that out!

I have a burner but never considered useing it for backing up, good thought.

This ghost program, if you're backing it up to the same hard drive and it crashes would that not crash the ghost also?

Not sounding dumb but never heard of it so am skepitcal is all.

I use Norton Anti-Virus and upgrade a couple times a week then run it.

Jon,

You need to store the ghost image on a separate hard drive for it to be secure. In the event of a disaster, you would boot up with a floppy, run the ghost program from either floppy or your 2nd hard drive, are restore the image. Within 15 minutes, you caqn be cookin' with gas again.

Of course, in order for this to be viable, you have to train yourself to make regular backup images. I do it once a week. I also have a batch job I wrote that copies my databases, documents, address books, and such to another location, as well. I try to remember to run the copy job every day. So, all my really dynamic files can be restored with virtually no lost information. It only takes seconds to run. I've been in the computer biz for 16 years, and have seen the heartache of crashed hard drives and lost data too many times.

Another thing I do is partition my hard drives into about 5gig partitions, and separate each for specific purposes. Example:

C: for Operating System, D: for business apps, E: for games, F: for images and pix, G: for storing ghost images and copies of data. Naturally you need at least two nice sized hard drives for this arrangement, but it works well.

Just some thoughts.

Tony I did the partition thing last year and was sorry I ever heard the word.

Then I crashed, had computer repaired, crashed again and did an upgrade, more speed, memory etc.

Then came the headaches of that partitioned drive, since I did not like it I went with a larger single drive, but trying to get it all into the new one was a nightmare, even the computer guy botched it up twice.

I will stick with single hard drives from now on, Going to get external hard drive as second drive and keep it disconnected when not using it, that way if ever I got a worm or virus only my main drive will be infected. Can disconnect it and run off the other drive, sure I have to have all programs installed but better then loosing things.

This batch file, if I understand you right it automatically copies your files for you?

I use a zip and a cd burner.

Yes, the batch file is written to specifically copy my important data files, and mailboxes to another location, on a physicall separate hard drive.

What I'm saying is this: By creatively partitioning, I can make my ghost images of each drive, and store them elsewhere. (CDRW) If my main drive fails, I can restore everything, the OS, the apps, the data, I mean everything, in minutes, rather than hours, or even days. I could take a lightening strike, and repair the hardware, and be restored in minutes, up and running, surfing, whatever. There is simply no faster and better way to recover from a disaster.

Drive sizes are getting to the point of being ridiculous. There is now a 100 gig drive available. The sad truth is, there are no really good hardware/software backup solutions available at affordable prices for large volumes of data. There are DLT tape drives, used primarily for backing up servers. These cost several grand, and tapes are 80 bucks apiece. Of course, they can hold upto 80 gig compressed.

Large, unorganized drives are harder to maintain than, several smaller, task specific partitions.

Every solution I have heard proposed here, is piecemeal at best, chock full of pitfalls. I must admit, any backup scheme is better then none at all. Some are better than others.

I realize you had a bad experience, but consider this. Just like some homeowners have had bad experiences with powerwashers, even they can be won over into the fold of satisfied customers. Go find yourself a "good" computer guy locally. You will then be a satisfied customer as well.

CD BURNER.....quick and easy and now affordable. Discs are cheap and hold alot.


Craig

GHOST is Good

I have used norton ghost. As a system administrator for a good size company it works great. But you will have to make an image of your hard drive every time you make changes. As if you use a standard backup software. I also use Microsoft backup on one of my servers. Works great. The key is to know what to back up in the case of a crash. If you have all the software then you need to back up only the database files and of course you word or txt files (mydocuments) A CD Burner is a good choice but you can now get jazz drives that hold up to 2gb of data so that should handle your needs anything larger I would get a tape backup unit. Or if you have the money you can buy a DVD burner.