If you came to this page directly, click the icon at the left to be taken to our Home Page|
|
|
If you came to this page directly, click the icon at the left to be taken to our Home Page |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
February,
2003 This is a question we regularly ask when someone calls and tells us their computer won't boot. You see, it's not a question of IF your computer will crash. It's a question of WHEN your computer will crash, and how much data you will lose. No matter what anyone tells you (and this includes Macs) - All computers crash. Sooner or later you will have a situation where you cannot access your Operating System - this is where you break out in a cold sweat - and you're going to be kicking yourself unless you have a recent backup. It is my experience that most people only backup their data when they think their computer is going to fail (it starts making atypical noises, etc.). Unfortunately, this is frequently the point in time where it's too late to backup your data, as there may already be data loss. While it is true that most lost data can be recovered, it can be very expensive to do so. If your hard drive is still spinning (and not making any nasty 'clacking' sounds) we have very high-powered recovery machines that can get your data back - and you won't have to take out a Second Mortgage out to do it. However - if your hard drive is making unpleasant sounds - or has stopped spinning altogether - you are typically looking at $1,500 to $3,500 (or more) to recover your data - and no guarantees. There are times when the physical damage to the drive is simply too great to recover the data (unless you work for the NSA). Some programs, such as Quicken and Quickbooks, encourage you to backup your data regularly and provide a mechanism for accomplishing this painlessly - as long as the data fits on a single floppy disk. When the size of the Quicken data file exceeds one floppy disk, many people find it's too much trouble and skip their backups altogether. Bad idea. More bad news for Intuit customers... If you think you've been backing up your data to CD, you'd better check the contents of that CD. We've yet to see that actually 'work.' You cannot backup Quicken or Quickbooks to an optical disk. You must first backup your file to a local Hard Drive -- then burn that file to a CD. What are your options when the data you need to backup exceeds the size of a typical floppy disk (1.44MB)? You can go to a Zip drive (internal or external), which is available in 100MB and 250MB densities. Prices range from $50 for an internal 100MB unit to $140 for an external 250MB drive. Zip drives are easy to use, as they support Drag and Drop - and operate exactly like a floppy disk (on steroids). They are also compact enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The down side to Zips is their expense - and susceptibility to data loss. Zip disks typically range from $9 to $12 each and can be easily damaged by magnetic fields. A recent entry to the Zip market is the 750MB Zip drive, selling for around $150 with media prices in the $15 range. A more popular backup option is the Writable and Re-Writable CD-Rom (CD-R and CD-RW) drives. At 650MB or 700MB in storage, they are superior to Zip drives in capacity. Internal CD-RW drives can be purchased for under $80 and are extremely cost-effective. CD-R disks sell for pennies in quantities of 50 or 100. CD-Roms are impervious to magnetic fields, but are quite easily damaged by scratching their delicate surface. You can only record data to a CD-R disk once. You can read it as many times as you like, but if you need to change the data on the disk, you will have to record a new disk and discard the old one. CD-RW disks are more expensive and can be re-written almost limitlessly. A major advantage of CD-R disks is their portability. While most computers do not have Zip drives, almost all computers have a CD-Rom Drive. CD-RW disks, however, will not play in some older computers. The disadvantage to CD-Rom drives for backup is that the interface is not nearly as intuitive as the Zip or floppy interface, making the backup process more confusing for the novice. One final note on using optical media for backup: Do not consider this option for long-term storage, as the typical lifespan for an optical disk is only 2-5 years. Another option which has become fairly ubiquitous in the last several years in the Recordable Media market is the DVD-Rom or DVD-Ram drive. They have the same characteristics as CD-Rom drives, but their capacity is significantly greater (4.7 Gigabytes for single layer and 8.4 Gigs for dual-layer) - as is their cost. Internal DVD-Rom drives are available for under $100, with the media (disks) available for as little as $1.00 each for DVD-R disks and a bit more for DVD-RW. When it comes to optical media, always buy Name Brand disks. You may save money with generic CDs or DVDs,but not enough to justify the risk to your data. What if you need to back up more than 8.4 GB of data - what are your options now? The most common solution is tape backup. The range of choices for mass-storage is dizzying - but for most applications, a Travan drive of 20 Gigabytes in capacity is more than adequate - and very cost-effective. A 20 Gig internal tape drive can be purchased for around $300, with media (tapes) priced in the $45 range. The advantages of tape backup are it's sheer data capacity and ease of operation. It is simple to setup an unattended backup schedule that runs the drive every night and backs up all the files and folders you assign. This removes the single most common failure point in backups (human error) from the equation. The downside is their susceptibility to damage from magnetic fields. For really high-capacity backups (over 50 Gigabytes or so) external USB or Firewire hard drives are an excellent solution. They're relatively inexpensive, very fast and can hold a lot of data (500GB drives are common.) However... The downside to this system is drive failure. The external enclosures used for these drives typically have little to no airflow, causing the drives to overheat and fail. As long as you only have the drive powered up when you're doing a backup, you're fine. If you leave it on 24-7, you're going to have a crashed backup drive eventually and now you're back in the same position you were in with no backup at all. If you're going to use an external drive for backup, make sure you have two drives and alternate them every week so you can never lose more than a week of data (or more frequently if you change a lot of data on a regular basis.) Note: toss out whatever backup software came with your drive and download Backup Platinum. It's the best product we've tested. We use it. Our clients use it. You'll like it. The most recent (and perhaps the easiest) option for unattended backups in the online (or off-site) / Internet-based backup solution. With this type of backup, you subscribe to a backup service and your computer uploads the files to a remote Internet-connected server every night. The down-side to online backups is the expense. You're paying for it every month. The best part about this service is the set-it-and-forget-it aspect. You don't have to do anything to ensure your computer stays backed up after the initial setup. This eliminates the chief source of backup failure - human error (or more accurately, human complacency.) Carefully research any online backup companies before signing up, as the popularity of this solution has caused everyone and their dog (or their hairdresser) to get in on the action and you want to be certain of the security and reliabiltiy of your choice before committing to a contract. We recommend iBackup.
More importantly than the method for backing up your data is what data do you need to back up? With very few exceptions, backing up your programs is a waste of time and space, as they cannot be restored. Programs must be re-installed if they are lost or damaged. What you really care about is the irreplaceable data - your documents, email, photos, addresses, financial data. Most well-behaved programs will place all their data in the My Documents folder, which makes backing up all this information fairly simple. Email programs such as Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird and Netscape Mail place their data in different directories, varying by version and the Operating System, so you need to locate these before backing up your data. In some cases, the email address book will be in a completely different location from the mail messages. Quicken and Quickbooks usually place their data in the Program Files / Intuit folder, so some investigative work is in order prior to backing up these files. Once you have your data backed up, remove the backup media and store it someplace else - a fireproof safe, safety deposit box, another location altogether, etc. There are few things worse than having your computer - and your backup stolen, lost in a fire or destroyed by lightning. Two final
notes: When you take your computer in for service, back it up first. No reputable shop should format your hard drive without thoroughly explaining the ramifications of this procedure to you, but it happens every day - and odds are the shop you take it in to will not take responsibility for losing your data. Remember: It is your responsibility to make sure your data is backed-up and protected. Recovering data from a formatted hard drive can cost you hundreds - or thousands of dollars - and you may not get it all back. Warren Paul Harris Warren Harris owns and operates The Computer Wizard in Plano, Texas The Computer Wizard
|
|
©
Copyright 1999 - 2008 The Computer Wizard
|
||||
