Need Help with Back-up Options

[Maceman]

I am looking for a good foolproof back-up option for my computer.

I have a Dell Dimension 4300 that I purchased in October of 2001. It runs Windows XP Pro, has an 80 gig hard drive, and is not networked.

I purchased it with a CD-RW drive installed, but it does not appear to be compatible with any back-up software that I have found. The Roxio CD writer program that also came installed is really cumbersome to use for backing up data files.

I have been thinking of paying the $300 per year to subscribe to the Internet backup service (500MB storage capacity) at www.backup.com (Swapdrive, Inc. in Washington DC).

I realize that this is a rather expensive solution, but I am tired of screwing around with back-up media that, in my experience, is often unreliable. I use my stystem for my home-based consulting business and a serious data loss would be a major disaster for my livelihood.

Still, I do have some concerns about the financial strength and potential longevity of this company, given that it was founded in 1999 and is privately held, which means no financial data is available.

My question is, has anybody used this service? Does anyone know anything about this company? Do you recommend it? Can anyone think of a reason not to do this, apart from the fact that it is pricey?

Any input would be appreciated.

[TaxRelief]

Doesn't one CD hold 700MB for 50 cents?

Windows XP has built in software for CD writing. Easy to use, too.

[Maceman]

When I try to use my Windows XP back-up utility, it seems not to recognize anything but my a: drive (floppy), even though the CD drive works for all other applications including Roxio.

[technomage]

I back up everything I need once a week using my CD RW. The program I use is Nero by Ahead Software. Extremely simple to use. Drag and drop, couple of clicks and your data is written to a CD.

Their URL is www.nero.com

[Notforprophet]

If your using your PC for business, consider purchasing a SCSI adapter and a 4mm tape drive. You'll also need some decent backup software, not sure if Veritas or Arcserve make a desktop version.

You could probably write it all off as a business expense.

NFP

[sd-joe]

The program "Backup My PC" works great, works with CDRW, and is not expensive.

[Khurkris]

I am no techie but have found a solution to this problem for business computer. Get a program named 'Ghost'. Or 'Partition Magic.' Also buy another hard drive. They a dirt cheap right now and you can get one now as large as 200GB. That should cover yr needs. Install this new drive and name it,i.e. 'H', 'L' or what ever. Then run the "Ghost' or what ever program you have mirrored yr files into and copy to the new drive.

Its cheap, its easy and it works. Just use this drive to hold yr files. Or you could even set this new drive up as a removable unit. Trust me, its easier than you think. Good luck.

[kylaka]

There are some 4 - 8 Gig tape systems available today in the $300 dollar range. I used tape when my systems averaged 300 to 800 MB and a tape held 250MB. Tape was reliable. Forget the 20 - 40 GB tape systems, unless you are prepared to shell out $800 to $1000 and up.

Truth is, the cheapest form of data storage today is hard drives which can be had for as low as .75 per GB. One tip about using hard drives.... throw away the data cable that came with it, and get a shielded round cable with connector pulls, or be prepared to lose some data.

[AppyPappy]

I'd recommend a removable drive as well.

[kylaka]

Oopw. Post 8 was for you.

[boris]

I used to use tape; and the best product (IMHO) was Novastor. Now the tape is gone. At work I backup to the net servers and at home I back up to an external HD. NovaDisk used to be the product but they have merged the two.

Get Novaback...and never look back.

--Boris

[boris]

"Get a program named 'Ghost'."

The problem with Ghost is that--unless they've done a major face-lift--it is and was a DOS-based application. That is seriously dumb.

--Boris

[Keith in Iowa]

Consider an external hard-drive, one of the USB or firewire versions, or, get another internal hard-drive and do disk mirroring.

[Focault's Pendulum]

Any input would be appreciated.

Face it....you're doomed.

[Paul_B]

Buying a CDRW retail will include nice drag and drop data functionality. Add to that a backup utility, such as BackUp For All, and you're in business.

[MarkL]

The problem that you're having with using the backup software with a CD writer might be that you must have a formatted CD-R/W (not a CD-R) in the drive in order to use it, and you must have the Roxio DirectCD software running. In that situation, the CD-R/W should work like a 700MB floppy drive, and any backup software that can work with removable media should work just fine.

If you're trying to use a CD-R, then you'll have to use the Roxio CD writer software, rather then the backup software, as if you were making a CD of MP3 files, or what ever. You would then do a "drag and drop" to copy files to the CD-R.

Mark

[MarkL]

Oops... One other thing that I mentioned. A lot of people don't realize that the media is important here...

There is a difference between CD-R and CD-RW media. CD-R is write once. CD-R/W is re-writeable and eraseable. The CD-R/W is what you need to use if you want to use it as removable media, like a big floppy disk, and you need the software to be able to do it, like Roxio's DirectCD. You'll also need to format the CD-R/W as well.

If you need even more capacity, you might also look into a DVD writer, but I'd hold off on buying one just now. There's still a "battle" going on between the standards committees, and it's still sort of up in the air as to who the final winner will be. There's DVD-R or R/W, and DVD+R or R/W, and they are NOT compatible! Also, many older PC and home DVD platers don't recognize "burned" DVDs, but may of the the newest models do. Both hold about 4.7GB per disk, and the price is beginning to come down. I've seen DVD+R drives as low as $179 after rebates. I had to buy one, because of my job, and the fact that I have to carry around some files that are larger than 1 GB (motstly ghost images, or collections of patches). But if I had a choice, I would have waited to buy one.

Mark

[jocon307]

"At work I backup to the net servers..."

Yes, but what are they backed up with? Believe me, backing up your data is the single most important thing you must do if you are using your computer for any serious purpose.

I work for a law firm, and am responsible for backing up our data. We have RAIDed,that is to say mirrored hard drives in our servers, so that if a hard drive just dies (which has happened) we can just keep working, we have two servers so if one craps out (which has happened) the second one kicks in as the alternate domain controller, and we back up nightly onto 4 mm tape. Per my integrator tape is still the standard back up method for business applications.

Taking your backups off site is also important. I take the Friday night backup tape home every Monday. We have (for each server) a Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur, tape as well as Fri1,Fri2, Fri3,Fri4. One set is always at my house. That way, in case of a major disaster at least we will have one week old data to restore. I'm not sure how you could work this out, safe deposit box at a bank or something else, but don't dismiss it as unimportant. It's the old "bring your umbrella and it won't rain" theory.

Our back up system has served us well. We have restored documents from it on several occasions. We had some rather serious mischief being made some years ago, but we never lost anything permanently.

Backing up data is the key to computer happiness! Good Luck with whatever method you chose. Hubby has used the Nero program mentioned by other posters with great success to make music CD's, he loves it. I think the idea of internet back up is also intriguing, You'd probably get good redundancy too, as they must back up themselves. This might serve you well as your off site back up, as wherever they are, they're probably far from you!

[Dark Knight]

I have an Archos Jukebox 10 (the new one is a 20)
http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500214.html
that is a portable hard drive that can play MP3s. I back up my files to it and it is very easy. When plugged into a USB port, it appears as another hard drive. You can store any data you like. I store MP3s, Word Docs, my backups for my contact software, etc. I am sure there are similar MP3 players, this is just the one I use.

Also, when you consider backing up your data, one of the areas most people forget to consider is having at least a copy off site. This would protect your data if your house burns, or the lines get zapped by lightning. You also need to consider some kind of stategy for keeping your backups.

$300/year seems really pricey for 500MB of backup. I would not trust a company with my data completely either. When you do it, you know it's done. Just my two cents!


DK

[Dark Knight]

Oops, don't buy it from Archos, it can be had much cheaper at other places!

DK