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where do i start with backing-up my pc’s?
OK could someone proficient in computers tell me EXACTLY the best way to back up all my files on my Buffalo Link Station Pro.
So, I have XP Pro and need to backup all files on my Buffalo to a Hard drive linked to it via usb. Preferably set up a weekly/daily backup
Should be really simple, it’s just kowing where to go to start.
Cheers
Dave
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14 Replies
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Well I have a couple of backup utilities but for extremely versatile powerful software you will be hard pushed to beat this FREE utility – Cobian Black Moon Backup 8:
http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm -
I bought one last month and i think its the best we have had so far…
Its an external double drive by NETGEAR a terribyte capacity and comes with its own software.basically it sits on its own, its a small box and has its own internal fans cooling both drives.
you simply save onto it like any other folder. the instant you save, it automatically backs the file onto the other drive. so it is mirroring the first drive instantly.
backing up large amount of files is as simple as dragging and dropping.
so in short, you dont back up, it does it for you instantly any files are added or changed.we now have 8 computers all feeding off and saving onto this storage unit. if the first drive fails, the second drive is available instantly to work from.
for me, for now, its the best solution we have had in years and only cost about 250 quid… -
Thanks Peter, taking a look now.
That is more or less what I have Rob, but the guy set it up to backup to an online server, which you have to pay for, and I just want it to backup to another drive so I can take it off site.
Cheers
Dave
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Rob, I hope your box is better than Netgear’s SC101 which I had for a short while. It did the same RAID copying onto a second disk which was all very well unless the actual SC101 electronics failed. You then had 2 disk drives with all your data on it formatted in a system that can’t be read anywhere else. It was also stunningly slow at reading directories with hundreds of files in. Sold it on Ebay!!
Peter
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There is some drives on amazon that are USB2 & Fire wire. Fire wire should be a lot quicker than USB.
Steve
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You have the same setup a me.
There is a section in the Linkstation that is for backing up to an external drive.
You need to find the ip address and then put that into you internet browser. I think it also comes with a program but I never bothered with that, anyway when you login you’ll see a menu on the left, one item is disc backup.
You’ll see a list of jobs that say not created, just click on one and set the time a repeat and backup type, then you set the destination to the usb disc at the bottom.
bottom left is the source and bottom right is the destination.I have 2 backups, 1 is weekly and does an overwrite complete/differential and the other is a daily overwrite differently.
Basically the weekly does everything whether anythings changed or not and the daily does only the changed files.
I also checked the ignore errors box as it will stop and wait if a files in use and not back the rest up.
You can also set it to send email reports to you when the backup is done, you’ll need an always on broadband connection for this to work unless you have an internal email system.
I also backup onto DVD every month or so and put these in a safe in another building.
Steve
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quote Peter Shaw:Rob, I hope your box is better than Netgear’s SC101 which I had for a short while. It did the same RAID copying onto a second disk which was all very well unless the actual SC101 electronics failed. You then had 2 disk drives with all your data on it formatted in a system that can’t be read anywhere else. It was also stunningly slow at reading directories with hundreds of files in. Sold it on Ebay!!
Peter
hi peter
i havent a clue if its the same as yours mate but could very well be.
the hard drives are added, dont come with it so you have the option of size. as i said ours is a terribyte. both drives are good makes. i know little about the system as it came from the same source we get our computers built. i just told them what i am after and they came back with this solution.
i honestly have had zero problems with speed. works exactly the same as our server before this other than we dont need to back it up or schedual backups etc everythings done in one…
when you say "if the netgear electrics fail" you are left with two hard drives. do you mean they are wiped? or that you have two hard drives that require another netgear hub to pull the data from? -
Rob, I doubt yours is the same unit. The disks in mine were formatted by the Netgear software using a system that is not compatible with FAT or NTFS. This means that you cannot simply take the disks out and plug them into a computer to read the data via Windows. Thus if the SC101 electronics failed you were left with 1 or 2 drives that nothing else could read. You might want to check yours does not work the same way because, if it does, a seperate backup onto compatible media is vital.
Peter
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They’ll have been running a version of Linux Peter so it wouldn’t have been a problem to get the info off as long as you had access to the drives.
Steve
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I got one of those SC101’s, it looks like a toaster in white. Shocking bit of kit, I cant beleive Netgear made such a unit considering they were extremely good at hardware. It certainly looks good and the idea is great as it is Ethernet connected.
The problem with it, it uses a form of unique number that associates with the install of a computer, so if you backup the computer it actually stores the data in its own compressed way but based on this number, but here is the big snag. Take it out, install the software on a new computer, attempt to read the data and bingo.. cannot access the drive. Oh dear, what a fat lot of good that is. So, its seems to be a personal storage device more then a backup.
There is numerous stories on internet, including revised firmware which doesn’t really solve the problem, there is also loads of them 2nd hand on ebay and now i know why.
Also the software is poorly written, shame. Also started to see a trend in weaker designed hardware from Netgear lately, shame as I used to rate them as number 1 (to cisco lol)
just a quick update… this is what i thought it was doing, i see there is different comments but outcombe i suspect the same.
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Anyone using the D-LINK DNS-323?
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quote :They’ll have been running a version of Linux Peter so it wouldn’t have been a problem to get the info off as long as you had access to the drives
That’s the whole point, Steve. I’m not running Linux. Netgear don’t mention Linux or explain what to do in those circumstances. So is a user supposed to get another PC, gen up with Linux, learn how to use it and then connect the disks in the hope of reading them, then decide how to get the data where it should be i.e. the windows machine?? !!
The additional point I did not mention with the SC101 is the frustrated users on Netgear’s bulletin board with all sorts of problems who can’t get responses from Netgear’s lousy customer support team.
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From the few comments here it sounds like the Netgear SC101 wasn’t very good at all.
My Linkstation has over 50 gig of files on it, anyone of which may be accessed at any time and I’ve not experianced any problems at all in the 1 1/2 years I’ve had it (touch wood 🙂 )
As I said I also back up to DVD but then I try to be very careful about data and don’t like to delete anything.Steve
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ah the linkstation is good.
I be honest with you, I actually got lots of ways of backing up running at the moment. I also managed to get a cheapo 500GB removable USB drive from PCW for £70, when I tested it on few computers they come up as another drive letter, perfect.
A lot of drives these days come with some customised backup software, however not used any of these softwares.So, when backing up you need to do the following:-
1: Copy original all CD’s and place them in a CD wallet, take the backups home and put them somewhere.
2: Write all serial numbers onto a sheet of paper, these include the Windows XP codes, serial numbers, software you’ve purchased. I have 2 page list tbh.
3: Backup your accounting data, the normal but also take a copy of the whole folder.
4: Backup all files except *.tmp and backup*.cdr if your a corel user.
5: Outlook stores the data in a something.PST file name, you need to find that.
6: Copy all your data onto the drive using some kind of backup software (hopefully leaving the files intact and not compressed), if it is leaving it compressed then you need to find the backup program and back that up.
7: Alternatively, I purchased a few programs like Ghost, Acronis and DriveClone, these will take a mirror of your drive and put it onto the removable drive, it will also make a CD which you can boot from.
My current favourite is DriveClone, Acronis works really well and then Ghost, well the old Ghost is better then the new Ghost so stay clear lolRemember your insurance stipulates backups and record things.
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