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| Backing up your work - Part 2 |
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PC support #9: Backing up your work, part 2
27th April 2002
C O N T E N T S
----- BACKUP STRATEGIES AND METHODS
1. What this support note covers.
2. Backup strategies - what and when
3. How to put your files onto the backup disk.
4. Backing up your documents and files
5. Backing up your e-mails
6. Disk rotation
7. Recovering from backups
----- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
8. A fast way to save files to floppy disk
9. Selecting several files at once
10. Writing CDs with Windows XP.
11. Erasing CD-RWs with Windows XP
----- CONTACT DETAILS
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----- BACKUP STRATEGIES AND METHODS --------------------------
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-- 1. What this support note covers.
In this support note I describe how to do regular backups to CD or floppy disk. There are many other backup devices (some are listed in the previous support note) but since most people won't have them they won't be addressed here.
-- 2. Backup strategies - what and when
The first thing you have to decide is what you are going to back up and when. For example, you could:
(a) Back up all of your documents, pictures, spreadsheets, and other "data" files to a CD once a month (see item 5 in the previous support note).
(b) Just back up really important files to floppy disk whenever you change them, so that two copies always exist - one on the floppy disk and one inside your PC (on the hard disk).
(c) Back up the entire contents of your hard disk (including program and system files) on a regular basis. This is only practical if your hard disk is small or you are using large backup media such as a tape drive or DVD, and I would not recommend it for most people.
Other strategies are possible - you must decide for yourself how much to back up and how often.
-- 3. How to put your files onto the backup disk.
There are various backup programs which will automate this process for you - in fact one ships with some versions of Windows, but it is unsuitable for most peoples use.
However, here I am going to describe the "manual" methods which are available to everyone.
(a) FLOPPY DISKS: To back up files to floppy disk, you simply copy them across in the normal manner. See item 8 in the Additional Information section below for some handy hints that will speed this up.
(b) CD-ROM: To back files up to a CD, you will need a CD writing program (unless you have Windows XP, which has CD writing built in - see item 10 below). If you have a CD writer, you should also have a suitable program. There are several available, so I won't describe how to use them here. Read the
manual if you have one, or contact me for further assistance.
There are two types of recordable CD. CD-R disks can only be recorded once. CD-RW disks, which can be erased and re-recorded, are a better choice for backup, but note that they will wear out with eventually if you keep re-using them.
-- 4. Backing up your documents and files
By "documents" I mean any files such as word processing documents, pictures, spreadsheet files etc. that contain work you wish to save for future reference. You can back them up simply by copying them to a floppy disk or CD.
If there are several in one folder, you can copy the whole folder in one go.
If you keep all your files in one place, such as "My Documents", (a practice I recommend) and you are backing up to CD, you can easily back up all of your files in one go by saving the whole "My Documents" folder to CD. (This will not work with a floppy disk unless you only have a few, small files).
-- 5. Backing up your e-mails
With Outlook or Outlook Express, you can back up individual messages by dragging them out of the e-mail program and saving them as separate files. Backing up all e-mails in one go is a little more tricky, and will be covered in the next support note.
-- 6. Disk rotation
Yes, I know all disks rotate! However, what I am referring to here is the practice of "rotating" your backups between several disks. (This really applies more if you choose to back up all of your files at regular intervals, rather than individual files as you create them).
It is a good practice to have more than one backup disk (or set of disks of your files won't all fit on one). Each time you do a backup, take the next disk (or disks) in the set. Once you have used all the disks, start with the first one again.
This means that you have several backups of varying ages, and improves your chances of recovering a file if (for example) you accidentally deleted it before the last backup. The number of backups you keep is up to you - I would suggest 3 to 5 is a good number.
-- 7. Recovering from backups
Using the simple backup methods we have looked at here means that if the worst comes to the worst and you need to recover your files, you simply copy them back from the CD or floppy disks to a suitable place on your hard disk (e.g. the "My Documents" folder).
If you have a major disaster (such as a hard disk failure), you will need to re-install Windows and your programs first, then copy the backed up files back to the hard disk.
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----- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------
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-- 8. A fast way to save files to floppy disk
To speed up the process of copying a file or files from a folder the floppy disk, try the following.
(a) Put a floppy disk in the drive.
(b) Open the folder containing the file or files you wish to copy (e.g. My Documents).
(c) If you are copying several files, select them all (or as many as you can) by "dragging" a box around them (see item 9 below).
(d) Right click on the file you wish to save, or on one of the files if you have selected several.
(e) On the menu that appears, click "send to".
(f) Another menu appears - click "3 1/2 Floppy (A)" and the file(s) will be copied to the floppy disk.
-- 9. Selecting several files at once
You can to select several files in a folder at once, so that (for example) you can move, copy or delete them all in one go. Here's how:
(a) Position the cursor near but not on one of the files to be selected.
(b) Press and hold the left mouse button.
(c) Drag the mouse, with the button held down. A rectangle will appear, and all items inside the rectangle will be shaded to show they are selected.
(d) If you can't get all the files you want in one go (for example because they are not all next to each other), you can select some more by holding down the "Ctrl" key on the keyboard and repeating the above process. If you don't hold down the "Ctrl" key, the previously selected files will be deselected when you select the new ones.
(e) If you now do something to one of these files (such as cutting, copying, moving or deleting) then it will happen to all of the files.
(f) If you want to select all of the files in a folder, click "Edit" on the menu bar, and choose "Select all".
(g) If to want to select most of the files, select the ones you DON'T want, and then click "Edit" on the menu bar and choose "Invert Selection".
-- 10. Writing CDs with Windows XP.
Windows XP has basic CD writing capability. Here is a summary of how to use it.
(a) Place recordable CD in the drive - one that is blank or has some room left on it.
(b) A box may appear asking what you want to do. If this happens, choose "Open writable CD folder using Windows Explorer".
(c) A window will now open showing the contents (if any) of the CD.
(d) Drag or cut-and-paste any files you want on the CD into this folder. They will appear fainter than normal, to indicate that they have not yet actually been saved on the CD.
(e) On the "task pane" to the left of the window, click on "Write these files to CD". If the "task pane" is disabled (it's optional under Windows XP) you will find the same option on the "File" menu.
(f) The "CD writing wizard" will start, and ask you for a name for the CD. This is optional. Type a name if you wish, then click "Next".
(g) Windows will now write the files to the CD. A progress bar will show you how far it has got. It will tell you when it has finished.
-- 11. Erasing CD-RWs with Windows XP
To erase a CD-RW, place it in the drive and follow steps (b) and (c) above. Then choose "Erase this CD-RW" on the task pane or the file menu and follow instructions.
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----- CONTACT DETAILS ---------------------------------------
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Chris Livingstone
e-mail: mailto:chris-l@ntlworld.com
web site: http://www.pcparamedic.org.uk |
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