Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (
More info?)
In news:lel.1mm71r@pcbanter.net,
lel <lel.1mm71r@pcbanter.net> typed:
> Oh I love this site, its so helpfull!!!
First of all, note that this is *not* a web site, this is the
Microsoft newsgroup microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers.
You are, however, apparently accessing the group through a web
site, and that's the slowest, clunkiest, most error-prone method
there is. Do yourself a favor and switch to a newsreader, such as
Outlook Express, which comes with Windows.
See
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
> I hope this doesn't sound too silly to all u very smart XP
> users,
> but....
> I have been using XP since last August, and I think Im doing
> okay,
> now, Im wondering what kind of back ups I should be doing, I
> thought
> I should have a disc of documents etc and also a disc of system
> programmes etc and what is a bootable disc, how do i get one?
> Should I be copying to disc incase of something going wrong
> with comp?
Yes, if you have files which are valuable to do, you shuld be
backing up regularly. It is always possible that a hard drive
crash, user error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack, even
theft of the computer, can cause the loss of everything on your
drive. As has often been said, it's not a matter of whether you
will have such a problem, but when.
Essentially you should back up what you can't afford to
lose--what you can't readily recreate. What that is depends on
how you use your computer and what you use it for.
It takes time and effort to backup, but it also takes time and
effort to recreate lost data. If you back up daily, you should
never have to recreate more than one day's worth of last data. If
weekly, there's potentially a lot more to recreate. You should
assess how much pain and trouble you would have if you lost x
days of data, and then choose a backup frequency that doesn't
involve more pain and trouble than that you would have if you had
to recreate what was lost.
At one extreme is the professional user who would likely go out
of business if his data was lost. He probably needs to back up at
least daily. At the other extreme is the kid who doesn't use his
game except to play games. He probably needs no backup at all,
since worst case he can easily reinstall his games.
Most of us fall somewhere between those extremes, but nobody can
tell you where you fall; you need to determine that for yourself.
Should you back up Windows? Should you back up your applications?
Most people will tell you no, since you can always reinstall
these easily from the original media. But I don't think the
answer is so clear-cut. Many people have substantial time and
effort invested in customizing Windows and configuring their apps
to work the way they want to. Putting all of that back the way it
was can be a difficult, time-consuming effort. Whether you should
backup up Windows and apps depends, once again, on you.
How to backup? What software to use? There are many choices,
including the Windows-supplied backup program. Which choice is
best for you depends at least in part on the answers to some of
the questions above.
Finally what backup media should you choose, and how should it be
stored? There are many choices, including CDs, tape, zip drives,
and second hard drives.
I don't recommend backup to a second non-removable hard drive
because it leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of the
original and backup to many of the most common dangers: severe
power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even
theft of the computer.
In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not
kept in the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for
example, if the life of your business depends on your data) you
should have multiple generations of backup, and at least one of
those generations should be stored off-site.
My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup
scheme uses two identical removable hard drives, which fit into a
sleeve installed in the computer. I alternate between the two,
and use Drive Image to make a complete copy of the primary drive.
--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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