some back-up/restore questions

[J_ZeFF]

Alright, like my sig says I'm a network admin in training.. Being trained by myself and w/e resources i can find online. So take it easy on me and try not to roll your eyes too much!
Basically the company couldnt afford to hire someone who was actually experienced, so they brought me aboard.

I realize that having back-ups is going to be a crucial part of my job, but im just not that informed on the entire process..
For example, the CEO's laptop has been giving him some problems lately and it is getting kind of old. Last thing i want is for it to crash and for him to lose everything. He is running windows 7. Say his laptop needs replaced because his crashed... What steps do i take before it crashes to make sure getting him up and running on a new computer will be as simple as possible?

[rjfvillarosa]

If we take it one machine at a time maybe you can adopt some of the questions/answers to the other machines.
First of all.
1. What software is he running on the laptop?
2. What documents does he store on the laptop?
3. Does he take it with him to see clients?
4. Does he connect to the internet whilst away from the office?
5. Does he take it home at night or leave it in the office?

[J_ZeFF]

1. Well, all of the basics.. Microsoft Office, exchange for our email.
We use a program called ACT for tracking our sales
2. Would like to save all of his emails and stuff from his documents. Not a whole lot really...
Most of it goes to the servers
3. Yes he does, but he only uses it to bring up spreadsheets and stuff
4. He connects to the internet at his house, but does not have any kind of wireless data plan.
5. Depends on a day to day basis.

[rjfvillarosa]

Rather than trying to run before you can walk and just confusing the issue. I think you would be far better off with a simple manual backup. Looking at what you have listed you only need to back up the actual data files. An ordinary external harddrive and simple copy and paste should be ok for now.
What are you using for an email client? Web based like gmail and yahoo? or Microsoft Outlook?

[J_ZeFF]

I have done manual backups before, multiple times... i just dont really have any experience with the actual backup/restore software thats built into windows. I didnt know if it was easier to create a system image, throw that on a portable HD and install using that on a new computer. When you do create a restore point are you even able to use that restore point on a different computer? Can you plug that HD into a fresh computer and completely install windows from that restore point? Also, if that is how it works.. will all network settings be saved as well? Because the networking side of things is my primary concern.
Every computer in the building also has an Admin account setup as well as the users account, is creating those 2 accounts as simple as it would be an a home computer, creating the admin account first followed by the users account?

Sorry for the wall of questions, i just want to make sure i know what I'm doing.
I do have three new computers in the storage room that need to be rolled out sometime in the next few weeks, so im thinking having those to play with and do mock set ups would be a good idea.

[EzyStvy]

First - you're familiar with the concept of drivers are you? Taking a drive - or an image from one computer to another with different hardware doesn't work as a general rule...

System restore which can be googled, only backs up important windows files and registry settings... No can use on another pc.

[glc]

I would look at making everything server-centric. Your desktops should be configured to store all data files on the server. Your laptops should be set up to sync files with the server when connected. You should be storing workstation images on the server. You should be looking at something like Acronis Backup & Recovery for managing all this.

I believe Acronis has a product that will allow you to restore an image to different hardware that will work in conjunction with this.

You will also need a means to back up the server with offsite storage.

[SARGE]

Any money in budget for an IT company? Or at least have a sit-down with a few and explain your needs over a few cups of coffee and get some quotes on letting them do it? You are the still the NA but then have others to assist. To me, something this important isn't something to jack around with, even for a night.

[Nuclear Krusader]

You don't want to use the backup that's built into Windows: it's tied to the key, if the OS goes down, retrieving the backups is going to be a real pain.