Effective Way to back up data??

[whr2206]

ok, I have enough stuff now, that I need to back it up in case my hard drive fails..... I have over 400 music files and Im on dial up, so itd be a pain tog et all those back.... I need a cheap way to back up my music, and some other stuff I wouldnt want to lose. Would just getting a cd burner be good enough of a back up tool?? Just burn the songs and files onto cd's??? Or is there an easier/cheaper method??

[Charliey]

a cd burner with cdrw is a pretty cheap and reliable backup method, and if you want to use regular cdr its even cheaper.

If youre doing a one time backup, cdr is best, or even cdrw, but for daily backup of files cdr is no good, because you would need a new cdr for each day, although cdrw could work.

[morriswindgate]

For backing up media files, you cannot beat a CD-Burner. For backing up the hard drive with the OS and Programs on it. I like using Drive Image or Ghost which will let you back-up to a hard drive partition in a compressed form or directly to a CD-Burner.

[whr2206]

I dont really care abotu my os, I can restore that, just the things I've spent sooo much time on downloading....maybe a few saved game files to keep my place, but thats about it....

[morriswindgate]

It's really nice, when the whole thing goes haywire, to pop in a few image restore disks and have it running in 15 minutes again.
On all of the computers I build for other people I include a copy of Ghost or Drive Image in the price, in addition to showing the customer how to and when to use it.

[ATX Fiend]

you're gonna hate this, but i know of many servers that still use tape backup.

it's slow as all hell, but they can hold anywhere from 40 to 80GB easily.

so if you're like me and you have well over 4GB of music, you'll not wanna waste 2000+ cd's

[Charliey]

um, 4GB of music will fit on 6 or 7 cds.

[whr2206]

I wish I had the money....!! haha but i dont

[morriswindgate]

2000+ cd's???? 4 gigs of music in MP3 format equals 5 x 74 minute CD-Rs when burned at 24x will take less than 20 minutes.

[Cricket]

Hi whr2206,

A CD burner and CD-R's works for me. Easy to do and very cost effective.

Crickets

[Mr N8]

I also recommend using a cd burner and cdr. Make sure you get a reliable brand, though. I once backed up my old computer on some el cheapo disks, and lost everything when my hdd died. I would recommend Fuji #1, and Memorex #2. Otherwise, Imations are ok. I tend to stay away from store brands and Kodak.

Nate

[ATX Fiend]

doesn't work for me.
8x = slow
sorry

[BFD Deadeye]

I better put in my vote for a USB hard drive. I love mine. I typically just store all my files on it, and even a few programs to use on client computers (Sandra, Belarc, etc.). If the OS starts looking screwy, I just back up my Contacts, Favorites, and a few other things.

Maxtor seems to be leading the USB drive pack, and with 2.0 USB, it's fast as all get out.

CDRW's are nice, and have their place. But in my opinion, if you want trouble free file backup, USB hard drives are the way to go. Even for file sharing, it's easier to take my drive (about the size of a book and 40GB) then the 70 or 80 CD's it would take to match the storage capability. Plus, you don't need to worry about closing CD sessions to get them to read on a regular CD-ROM.

[Mr N8]

My CDRW is an older Lite-on that burns at 4x. I figure for the price of the burner and cd, its worth the time to take 20mins to back up my data. Just wondering, ATX, what would you recommend that is a faster and cheaper backup than a CD writer and CDR? I use tape drives for our severs, but for home use the cost isn't nearly worth it. Especially with DVD writers being on the market, if you really need to keep your data on fewer disks.

Nate

[pmaddock]

I prefer Iomega's peerless cartridge system myself. You can purchase 10 or 20 GB cartridges to back up your data on one cartridge as many times as you want. If you buy the firewire version, it is very fast also. I can back up 15 GB's of data using Nova software in about 40 minutes. Once you load the system on your system, it acts like a hard drive. The downside is that is is somewhat expensive. The firewire version with a 20 GB tape costs about $350. Of course, you have to buy a firewire card also (about $50).


PM

[HAL9000]

I agree, I have a 6x Ricoh and a full CD only takes about 13 minutes. I buy CD's bulk and they only work out to about 50 cents each. An 8Gb (compressed, 4Gb native) Dat tape costs me about $10. So that's 20 CD's, or 13Gb. The CDRW is also about 1/10th the cost of the SCSI card and DAT drive.

[Lord Prism]

morriswindgate,
I got a copy of Ghost with my Mobo, but really don't use it AT ALL.
You make it sould like I'M REALLY MISSING OUT!
Do you mind elaborating; what should one be doing with it!?!!??


Thanks,

[wolfie]

had to get in on this one. i have same question as lord prism. does it really do what it says?

wolfie

[Cricket]

Ghost (and Drive Image) is a real handy program that will allow you to make an exact copy or image of the contents of your drive or partition. It can save you a lot of time by not having to reinstall the OS and all the programs you normally use after a software disaster. And you don't have to make all those little tweaks and customized setting changes as the image is already set up the way you like it.

What I usually do is install Windows on a partition with all the programs I normally use. I then tweak Windows, update all the drivers, update the software with whatever patches or updates available and get everything the way I like it. I then use Ghost to make an exact copy or image of my c: partition and save it to another partition or hard drive. I usually make a new image of the c: partition once a week (I keep the first image on CD but the rest I just keep on the hard drive. I usually keep 2 images and delete the oldest one when I make a new one).

If I try a new program and it messes up somehow and hoses Windows, I just restore the c: partition with the saved Ghost image. Depending on your system and the size of the image file, it can take as little as 10 minutes to get your system back up and running. If the image is fairly large it takes much longer. It's nice to be able to recover from a really bad crash or software disaster and get your system up and running in less than half an hour.

I think Ghost is one of the best software investments I've ever made. I think a lot of members use some form of drive image software to save them from a lot of grief.

Cricket

[wolfie]

thanks cricket.
running to best buy now.

wolfie

[HAL9000]

Once you get your copy of GHOST, check this out.

I should add though, I just finished doing a backup of my C:\ drive with Windows XP, 3003Mb in 52 minutes on only 3 CD's. Ghost set the CD up as bootable and wrote directly to the CD. I should have done this two weeks ago before I screwed up my C:\ dirve

[Lord Prism]

SWEET.

Thanks!