Backup Options

[wadleigh]

Hi all, I am looking for a backup option for my photos and also my entire operating system. For the first, I

know I will just get an extra 500gig HD and backup my photos to it. I currently use a 500 gig external USB HD so

I can just do a synch between this and the "backup" HD that I will buy.

 

Second, I want to be able to create a complete backup image of my entire operating system! That basically means

everything that is on my C drive and whatever is necessary so that if my system crashes, I can just pop this

backup image into my machine and it restores the whole thing. My computer manufacturer provided a DVD with the

original OS installation and I just can NOT use this when my computer crashes because it will mean a LOT of time

to setup and re-install software and all that jazz. So I am wanting to save myself the time and stress and just

do an image backup.

 

So... which software can do all of this? 1 - synch my external HD with another "backup" HD.... and 2 - create

an entire backup image of my Operating System so that it can be easily restored.

 

I know Windows has this "system restore" functionality and that basically restores your registry to a point where

it worked. that is not enough for me. I want everything restored back so I do not have to redo anything!

 

Your help is much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

John

[ronald_moravec1]

My store used to recomment Norton`s Ghost.

 

I am leary of auto backs ups because if something goes wrong and you do not detect it, you automatically copy the error/corruption to the back up disc.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

I use both an external hard disk and an online backup service, mozy.com. I also create a copy my RAW files before making any edits with Nikon Capture NX.

[michaeljlawson]

Ghost is a good choice if you want to buy it. If you do a Google search for Open Source Ghost you will also come across several free imaging software options (OSALT, FOG, etc).

[Ed_Ingold]

Use Symantec "Ghost" to copy your system files and applications to a backup drive AND a bootable CD or floppy disk. You will need a bootable disk to get the computer to recognize the replacement disk should the time come.

 

Be aware that some applications, notably Adobe, Microsoft and Symantec products, are "activated." This means they are keyed to your old system and may not work if substantial hardware changes are made. A new system disc has different identifiers, and may constitute a "substantial" change. If you have time, be sure to de-activate these applications before changing discs. Otherwise, negotiate with the software manufacturers. Even Symantec takes a reasonable approach should this occur. Adobe is easy, but Microsoft can be a PITA.

[julianj1]

The most common reason for complete loss of data is probably pc theft, fire or flood. I keep a copy of all original images and finished prints on DVDs and keep them safe. I also use an external drive to back up all data which I keep hidden.

 

I have in the past taken images of my drive but gave up on the basis of the risk being relatively low and the recover relatively painless (as long as the data is safe) i.e. reloading a bunch of software.

 

On-line backup seems like a good idea but I've not investigated cost yet.

[bgelfand]

It depends upon your operating system.

 

If you are running Vista Ultimate, you have a system backup built into the operating system. Go to CONTROL PANEL > BACKUPS. Vista Ultimate and Home Premium have a file system backup built in. Once again go to CONTROL PANEL > BACKUPS.

 

If you are running XP or, like me, Windows 2000, then Norton Ghost is probably your best choice for full system backup.

[wadleigh]

As mentioned above, I have seen some of the Open Source alternatives to Norton Ghost. Anyone use these with success and can defend them?

 

As for the online backup to a website, I never understood these because typically for a wireless home LAN your upload speed is a lot slower than your download speed and I would assume it takes a long time to upload your 200 gigs of images!

[wadleigh]

Anyone have experience with Nero BackItUp?

[will_daniel1]

John, If I could, I would recommend the software I use for backing up my C drive, but I can't because it's no longer available. The company got swallowed up by Symantec, which then incorporated the product into Ghost. (Note: following advice is for WinXP -- some of it won't work with Vista.) I do have one recommendation for you: Keep your operating system disk small, and keep it completely separate from your data (images, documents, etc.). My OS is on a relatively small partition on my hard drive -- 40 gig. I also have applications installed there, but others recommend nothing but OS on C drive.

 

The default place Windows likes to save your data is My Documents and My Pictures on C drive, but you can relocate those folders to a different drive. It's tricky, but in effect you "fool" the system into following the path you set for those default folders. Info at http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147

 

Once you have C drive stuff separated from your data, it's easy to develop copy routines that back up just your data. Keeping data and OS separate means you have to back up the C drive less frequently, say everytime you install a new application.

 

Data, on the other hand, should be backed up daily. I use two external hard drives for redundancy, and keep one of them (a weekly backup) off site. If my house burns down or a thief gets my computer, I am NOT going to lose my data.

 

Furthermore, every six months or so, I copy all my family photos to DVD and give copies to my grown kids. That ensures that I always have yet another source of backup for the bulk of my stuff.

 

You are definitely on the right track for thinking about backups. Hope this helps...

 

Will

[wadleigh]

Will, thanks a lot for that information! The good news is that I learned that lesson a long time ago with some various data loss problems. Now I always put my "My Documents" folder on a separate external drive. All of my custom data that I download and so forth, gets put onto this external drive. I agree, keeping your OS drive from as few changes as possible keeps the thing stable! I think it is also a good idea to have all of your installed applications in another partition of the same drive but I do not have that setup. Still, I would like to use something like Norton Ghost to capture my OS when it is stable. Then if something goes wrong or I install an app that really messes up things, I can just wipe it out and put the saved "good" version of my OS in there. As for my data on my external drive... I will most likely just copy all of this to another external USB drive and do some type of nightly synch so that it always has the most recent stuff each day.

 

That's the plan!

 

I have checked out some of the open source alternatives to Norton Ghost and am not sure if they are really easy to use or not. I feel more confident right now with just buying Ghost and getting it done.

[wadleigh]

Just need some feedback comparing Nero BackItUp with Norton Ghost - are they basically doing the same thing?

[Kent Shafer]

I had Norton Ghost on my previous XP machine. It saved the day for me several times - worked just as advertised. I don't have it yet for the current Vista machine and am feeling vulnerable.

[will_daniel1]

John, I just want to clear one thing up. All of my data -- 100 percent -- is on my computer's main, internal hard drive. Everything else I wrote about is just backup -- that avoids lots of confusion about where stuff resides, which version it is, etc. All that other stuff for me is reduncancy and double, triple and quadruple redundancy.

 

I mention this because you said above you are keeping some data on a single external drive, and it reads as if that is the only place you have it. I would never trust important stuff to one place only.

 

Will

[julianj1]

Will's last point is very important. Hard disk failure/corruption is only a part of the risk and much more common is

computer theft, fire and flood and that means that essential data kept on a remote server, off site or at least in a well

hidden strong box. You need to assume that this sort of disaster will happen to you; a local image/copy of your hard

drive does not protect you (but does create a handy transportable version of your hard disk for data thieves to share

with their friends!).

 

 

With regards to Ghost, your inbuilt System Restore is the starting point for sorting out problems caused by dodgy

applications or instability in your OS; it's worked for me a number of times. I used Ghost for a while and found it very

resource-consuming, it slowed down computer start-up and generally wandered round dominating the OS e.g.

interacting with Adobe Bridge's cache to cause crashes in Bridge. If you are sold on keeping a complete image of

your hard drive then I have been told there are indeed some very good open source solutions. For straight data

backup to an external drive I use Microsoft's neat and simple SyncToy, it's great.

[will_daniel1]

Thanks, Julian -- I'll have to check out SyncToy. I've been using old fashioned DOS commands in a batch file, like

this:

 

xcopy j:\photos\*.* m:\photos /s/e/c/h/r/y

 

xcopy j:\raw\*.* m:\raw /s/e/c/h/r/y

 

etc., etc.

 

Anyone who wants to know what those switches mean can go to your command prompt and type "xcopy /?"

(without the quotation marks).

 

Will

[will_daniel1]

One more thing, then I'll sit down and shut up... My photo collection is only part of my reason for being serious about backups. A couple of years ago I scanned all the important documents in a four-drawer file cabinet into PDF files, and then shredded all the documents. I consider the PDF my "electronic photocopy." Now those documents need to be protected as seriously as the photos. I absolutely cannot lose them, and so I get "anal" about their protection.

 

Will

[wadleigh]

Yeah, all good information guys. I would love to eliminate my paperwork in my folder drawers as well ! That would take some time to scan it all though.

 

So yes, I tend to always keep my "My Documents" folder and any personal data on an external drive. This is my primary location for all of that stuff. I have questioned it at times, because my internal drive spins at 7200 RPMs (as does my external USB drive) but the performance loss here is that data always has to go through the USB 2.0 channel when I work on my photos through lightroom or photoshop, etc. I have not done tests on the performance improvements if I had everything local on the internal drive. I do, however, keep my Lightroom catalog on my internal drive to keep performance somewhat ok and I backup that catalog to that same external USB drive that I mentioned. Thoughts on this?

 

So I have checked out the open source options that compete with Norton Ghost and not really 100% sure about them. They market themselves as "easy" but they do not appear so easy. Norton Ghost would only be a resource hog if you have it setup to do live file backup right? Otherwise, you run it, you tell it to backup the HD as an entire image, and then you are done. Right?

 

The SyncToy program I heard works perfectly for a lot of people.

[iqbal]

I always divide my HD into Two parts: main © for OS and all softwares. The other (D) for data, photos and other files. I back up (D). If computer crashes, I will always first reformat © and reinstall all softwares (a pain staking process). A clean © is essential to avoid any future problem. Just copying every thing from one drive to another is not a safe and reliable solution in the long-run.

[will_daniel1]

Julian,

 

Thanks for recommending SyncToy. Love it.

 

Will

[wadleigh]

Status update... I downloaded SyncToy 2.0 and love it! Very easy to use! However, for my main backup program I am now using Norton Ghost. It is fantastic! It schedules backups and does a great job backing up data even if files are being used when it is backing up, etc. I highly recommend it !