Carefull with that backup!

[Jesper Kaas]

I have learned some things the hard way concerning backups, and
thought I now was set up safely. So when my Windows 7 systemdisk
crashed, the safety of data was not a big concern. Still, there are
things to learn, and after some reluctance, I will share:

I do daily backups of data to an interal harddisk in my desktop-PC,
about once a week to an external disk that is only connected and
powered while backing up, about once a month to an external disk kept
at work. In addition I make a clone of the system disk from time to
time.
When I got the replacement disk, I put a clone of the old one on it,
and was happy to see Windows starting up as it should. After a while I
noticed my Backup Program, Second Copy, churning away in the system
tray. I have it set up to start backing up every day at 6:00 AM or
whenever the PC first is started after that, with a 1 minute delay. I
have set up Second Copy with what they call "Exact copy". That means
that all files on the target that are not on the source will be
deleted! When I stopped Second Copy, the damage was already done: all
new files created after the 6 month old clone, were gone from the
backup.
It did not turn out so bad, since I could pull user-data from the
crashed disk, and had that failed, the external backup was only a few
days old.

Next time...

 

[Jeff Layman]

I have learned some things the hard way concerning backups, and
thought I now was set up safely. So when my Windows 7 systemdisk
crashed, the safety of data was not a big concern. Still, there are
things to learn, and after some reluctance, I will share:

I do daily backups of data to an interal harddisk in my desktop-PC,
about once a week to an external disk that is only connected and
powered while backing up, about once a month to an external disk kept
at work. In addition I make a clone of the system disk from time to
time.
When I got the replacement disk, I put a clone of the old one on it,
and was happy to see Windows starting up as it should. After a while I
noticed my Backup Program, Second Copy, churning away in the system
tray. I have it set up to start backing up every day at 6:00 AM or
whenever the PC first is started after that, with a 1 minute delay. I
have set up Second Copy with what they call "Exact copy". That means
that all files on the target that are not on the source will be
deleted! When I stopped Second Copy, the damage was already done: all
new files created after the 6 month old clone, were gone from the
backup.
It did not turn out so bad, since I could pull user-data from the
crashed disk, and had that failed, the external backup was only a few
days old.

Next time...

But why backup daily to an internal HD and only weekly to a local
external HD?

You risk losing up to 6 days of data instead of just one if, for
example, you get a power spike which destroys your PC including all its
hard disks, or someone steals the PC.. You should be backing up every
day to an external drive and, if you so wish, weekly to an internal drive.

Do you ever do backup images, or just backup data? It's true that data
is usually irreplaceable, but reinstalling all your programs plus their
associated settings can take quite a bit of time, too.

 

[Tony]

Always do incremental backups of your data or you'll end up like the
A-Holes at DSL Reports. Justin says i made a boo-boo. Yeah boo-who.

I have learned some things the hard way concerning backups, and
thought I now was set up safely. So when my Windows 7 systemdisk
crashed, the safety of data was not a big concern. Still, there are
things to learn, and after some reluctance, I will share:

I do daily backups of data to an interal harddisk in my desktop-PC,
about once a week to an external disk that is only connected and
powered while backing up, about once a month to an external disk kept
at work. In addition I make a clone of the system disk from time to
time.
When I got the replacement disk, I put a clone of the old one on it,
and was happy to see Windows starting up as it should. After a while I
noticed my Backup Program, Second Copy, churning away in the system
tray. I have it set up to start backing up every day at 6:00 AM or
whenever the PC first is started after that, with a 1 minute delay. I
have set up Second Copy with what they call "Exact copy". That means
that all files on the target that are not on the source will be
deleted! When I stopped Second Copy, the damage was already done: all
new files created after the 6 month old clone, were gone from the
backup.
It did not turn out so bad, since I could pull user-data from the
crashed disk, and had that failed, the external backup was only a few
days old.

Next time...

--
The Grandmaster of the CyberFROG

Come get your ticket to CyberFROG city

Nay, Art thou decideth playeth ye simpleton games. *Some* of us know
proper manners

Very few. I used to take calls from *rank* noobs but got fired the first
day on the job for potty mouth,

Bur-ring, i'll get this one: WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM JERK!!? We're here to
help you dickweed, ok, ok give the power cord the jiggily piggily wiggily
all the while pushing the power button repeatedly now take everything out
of your computer except the power supply and *one* stick of ram. Ok get
the next sucker on the phone.

Deirdre Straughan (Roxio) is a LIAR (Deirdre McFibber)

There's the employer and the employee and the FROGGER and the FROGEE,
which one are you?

Hamster isn't a newsreader it's a mistake!

El-Gonzo Jackson FROGS both me and Chuckcar (I just got EL-FROG-OED!!)

All hail Chuckcar the CZAR!! Or in F-R-O-Gland Chuckcar laFROG laCZAR,
ChuckZar!!

I hate them both, With useless bogus bullshit you need at least *three*
fulltime jobs to afford either one of them

I'm a fulltime text *only* man on usenet now. The rest of the world
downloads the binary files not me i can't afford thousands of dollars a
month

VBB = Volume based billing. How many bytes can we shove down your throat
and out your arse sir?

The only "fix" for the CellPig modem is a sledgehammer.

UBB = User based bullFROGGING

Master Juba was a black man imitating a white man imitating a black man

Always do incremental backups of your data or you'll end up like the
A-Holes at DSL Reports. Justin says i made a boo-boo. Yeah boo-who.

Updates are for idiots. As long as the thing works there's no reason to
turn
schizophrenic and develop a lifelong complex over such a silly issue.

Adrian "jackpot" Lewis is a mama's boy!

Jimmy Fricke is good for the game of poker

Using my technical prowess and computer abilities to answer questions
beyond the realm of understandability

Regards Tony... Making usenet better for everyone everyday

This sig file was compiled via my journeys through usenet

 

[Fokke Nauta]

But why backup daily to an internal HD and only weekly to a local external
HD?

Because it's easier. Backing up to an internal drive is just a matter of an
entry in your backup schedule, and for an external drive you'll need to get
it out of the cupboard , get your cables (and supply) and and connect it.

You risk losing up to 6 days of data instead of just one if, for example,
you get a power spike which destroys your PC including all its hard disks,
or someone steals the PC.. You should be backing up every day to an
external drive and, if you so wish, weekly to an internal drive.

Disagree.
There are many ways you can protect your mains supply for power spikes. My
mains supply for my PC's is protected, and I back-up every night to an
internal disk.
And once a week to an external disk in case my PC's would be blown up by a
power spike. How big is that chance?
I feel pretty comfortable by this way of backing up data.

Do you ever do backup images, or just backup data? It's true that data is
usually irreplaceable, but reinstalling all your programs plus their
associated settings can take quite a bit of time, too.

Put the data on a different partition than the system and back it up
regularly.
From the system partition I make an image every month. Thst's the way to be
safe, I guess.

Fokke

 

[John Williamson]

Because it's easier. Backing up to an internal drive is just a matter of an
entry in your backup schedule, and for an external drive you'll need to get
it out of the cupboard , get your cables (and supply) and and connect it.


Disagree.
There are many ways you can protect your mains supply for power spikes. My
mains supply for my PC's is protected, and I back-up every night to an
internal disk.
And once a week to an external disk in case my PC's would be blown up by a
power spike. How big is that chance?
I feel pretty comfortable by this way of backing up data.


Put the data on a different partition than the system and back it up
regularly.
From the system partition I make an image every month. Thst's the way to be
safe, I guess.

I make an image of the system drive to a USB HD as soon as the
computer's running and stable with all the programs I use. This is
updated every time I install a program, once I'm sure the system is
still stable. I never save any data onto the system drive apart from
things like system settings that are kept there by unavoidable default.

To restore a broken system, I clone the initial system back onto the
computer HD, then run the various updating programs.

When I'm at home, I synchronise the data drives on the laptop and the
desktop over the network once a day just before shutdown. That way, both
systems have the latest data and a stable system backup available, and I
can't lose more than a day's worth of data.

When I'm not at home, backup is a little harder, but the most I can lose
is the data I've modified since the last backup at home.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

On Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:48:46 +0200, "Fokke Nauta"

[snip]

Put the data on a different partition than the system and back it up
regularly.
From the system partition I make an image every month. Thst's the way to be
safe, I guess.

Make sure that the partitions are on different spindles. If your
main drive dies, you do want to be able to use that backup, no?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko