March 12th, 2007
by Michael Swanberg
What is the proper way to backup a PC? Today we’ll explore the methods I use and also look at some other potential methods.
First of all, why should we backup? Well, the only reason to backup anything is to restore it. You may only need to restore in the event of a disaster (a virus or the like) or perhaps if you have a minor catastrophe (such a file gets corrupted). You may never need to restore, in which case your backups are just there to make you feel better. Essentially, backing up is like insurance; you hope you’ll never need it, but if you do you’ll be glad you have it.
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There are essentially two types of backups: System and Data. There is overlap between these two, but a proper backup strategy should cover both of these and not require overlap. Let’s first look at the Data Backup.
There are many ways to perform data backups, everywhere from a robust suite of software with a tape system to simply dragging files onto a thumb drive or CD. The main thing to think about in a Data Backup is that the more frequent it is done, the better your coverage in the event of a problem. As such, it is best to make the backup process as painless as possible so that it can be done very frequently and without fail.
The first thing that you need to do is to identify what needs to be backed up. Do you have a handful of files that need backing up? Do you have entire folders where you regularly store data to be backed up? The important thing is to exclude programs (except perhaps programs that you write yourself) since those will be backed up in the System Restore. Also, ignoring programs in the Data Backup will make the backups smaller and easier to manage.
Truly, most of us don’t have that much data that we need to backup regularly. We could probably put all of the important stuff on a single CD.
The next thing that you need to do is to figure out what sort of volatility your various data files have. For instance, your email repository is changing daily, but your tax records from 2 years ago haven’t changed since that time. So, you may wish to include your emails in a daily backup, but only include your tax records on a monthly or yearly backup. The whole point is to try and reduce what gets backed up the most frequently, again to likewise reduce the effort in actually backing it up. But realize, the more you separate your various backups, the more your restoration process gets complicated.
For instance, if you have a yearly, a monthly, and a daily backup, then you will have to restore all of those in that order (or perhaps a different order, depending on the situation) to get things back to the way they were. In the end, a simple question has to be asked: what is the intent of the restore? Do you wish to get things back the way they were before the “incident”? Or do you simply want to make sure that certain data is safeguarded and available somewhere, just in case? Example: those 2-year-old tax records don’t necessarily need to be restored to your PC unless you are audited or need them for some reason. If they’re on a CD somewhere, they’re pretty accessible.
So, a good way to apportion your data is to put it all in as few places on your hard drive as possible. Most of us use our “My Documents” folder. I have been doing this since far before that folder existed, so I have my own folder called simply “Data”. And I like to restore to get things back as they were, so put everything in there and then back it all up monthly, and then only the changed files daily. I keep three months back in case of a corruption. I figure if a file gets corrupted and I hadn’t noticed in over three months, then it probably wasn’t that important to begin with.
Okay, so you got everything organized and identified, how do you go about backing it up? Well, Windows has a backup program that comes with it. XP Home users don’t have it by default, but it is on the CD. Do a quick Google search to learn how to find it and install it.
But I only recommend the Windows Backup in a pinch. It is much better to have your files separated out and more easily accessible. Why? Well, the Windows Backup will make one large file. If that file gets corrupted, you could lose everything that you backed up. But if you back up files by simply copying them somewhere, then a corrupted file won’t mess up the entire batch. Plus, to restore you can just copy it. Finally, what happens if you decide to move away from Windows to Linux or Mac? Your backups will be useless since you would need the Windows Backup program to restore anything. In the end, it is best to use backup software that isn’t required for the restoration.
For my data backups, I use a program called SyncBackSE. There is a free version, but I like it so much I ponied up the dough. It’s only $30 and can be found at http://www.2brightsparks.com/ .
The reason I like SyncBackSE so much is that it has many options for backing data up and can be easily scheduled to handle everything automagically. Just set it and forget it.
Now comes the question of what media to use. Well, I have a LOT of data that I like to back up regularly. I have over 30GB of music files that I would hate to lose. Plus years and years of other files that I wish to keep. So I back up to removable hard drives.
Here’s the strategy: I have one PC that has the backup software on it. I give it access to all the other PCs on my LAN that have data to back up, thus centralizing the process as well as the data. I try to make at least 2 copies of everything to be truly safe. And it is pretty easy to just take the whole drive and move it off-site.
Which is something everyone should consider. There are more disasters than simply getting a computer virus or a having a hard drive die. What if your house burns down? Or floods? If your backups are in the same place as your PC, you could lose both at once.
I don’t do this, but that is a bad thing. Mainly, I figure that if I have a disaster of that magnitude, the least of my worries will be my files. But I encourage you to consider the possibilities and weigh the likelihood against the importance of your data.
Whatever media you choose, let’s say it’s a removable hard drive, one possibility is to make a deal with a friend. He buys two drives and you buy two drives. You back up to one, and then once a month (or once a week or daily, whatever) you swap drives. You keep his and he keeps yours. Meanwhile, you backup to the other drive and store your friend’s. Then at the next swap, you give your friend back his drive as well as your second drive, and take from him his second drive and your first drive. If you’re clever and trust your friend, you could do it on just one pair of drives. So, the drive you have contains your friend’s backups from last month and your current backups.
At the very minimum, place all your must-have files on a CD or two and let your lawyer keep them. Or put them in a safe deposit box.
The most convenient way is to purchase offline storage that is accesible over the internet. There are many such companies, but they aren’t cheap. That way you can, as part of your backup strategy, move files to a remote location. SyncBackSE has an option to FTP files to a remote location if you have this type of access.
Okay, so what’s the answer? Well, here is how I do things. It might be a good place to start and you can adjust it for your own purposes.
For my music, I know that some files could become corrupt and I may not realize it for some time. After all, it’s not like I listen to my entire collection every day. Or even every year. So, I keep three months worth of backups and refresh the most current one daily. That way, I have a backup that is identical to what it was yesterday for easy restores. And if a problem appears, then I can go up to three months back in time.
For my other data, there is a significant amount of it so it isn’t so easy to just drop it on a CD. So I have one backup similar to my music, three months worth of monthly backups. I then have daily backups of only the files that have changed, but they are each separated by the day of the month. This is so that if a file gets corrupted or if there is a change that cannot be undone, I can go back up to a month’s worth of backups to get a previous version. Finally, I also keep a sync’ed copy of the folder that’s backed up daily so that if there is a disaster, I only have to copy the most recent folder back to my restore PC (or new PC, if it was a BAD disaster).
All in all, only you know the nature of your data so only you can determine what the best strategy is for safeguarding it. You just have to ask yourself some questions about each and every piece of data you have. What happens if my PC crashes? What happens if my hard drive crashes? What happens if I buy a new PC and want to move my data? What happens if a file gets corrupted and how often do I use this file? Will I ever need to just abandon this file and go to a previous version? What happens if I am done with this file and delete it, will I want to remove it from my backups?
One other quick thing to note about SyncBackSE that I really like and that helps with backups is the idea of Background backups. If you leave the program running, it can detect a variety of events and trigger a backup. I use it for my Archos video player. I have it set that when I plug the Archos in, it automatically starts the backup. Then I have all of the settings such that whatever I do to one gets reflected in the other. So, when I’ve watched a video, I can delete it on the Archos, and the next time I plug it in, it deletes it from my PC. And any files that get added to the PC or the Archos get copied to the other platform. Very slick. Not really a backup idea, per se, but it is nifty and a great way to keep files sync’ed between your home computer and your work computer.
Okay, that’s a lot to take in. Next time we’ll talk about System Backups. Meanwhile, feel free to leave a comment. Tell me what’s good and bad about my backup system. Tell me what you do to back your data up. And remember, this is a strategy for personal computers at home. How your company backs up data should be far more stringent and robust (read: expensive).
Related Posts on This Topic:
Backup Strategy, Part 2
10 Essential Windows Utilities/Programs to Install
Taming the Schedule, Part 2
Windows Vista First Impressions
Taming the Schedule, Part 1
