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Maintenance and Backup
Articles covering computer maintenance and data backup and restore.
A brief overview of Windows 7 Backup
Windows 7 includes an improved backup utility, but I find it confusing and difficult to understand compared to other alternatives.
Are free online backup services worth it?
There's a new class of online storage available for free that can be used for remote backups. Should you use them? As part of a larger strategy, maybe.
Can I backup files to another partition on the same hard disk?
It's tempting to backup to a separate partition because it's somewhat like another disk. The problem is that it's not. You could be risking your data.
Can I backup more than one machine to a single external hard drive?
It's quite possible to backup multiple machines to a single external hard drive. I'll review two approaches: the annoying, yet easy way and the right way.
Can I backup multiple machines to the same drive?
With multiple machines connected to a local area network, it's often reasonable to have some of them backup over the network to a shared backup drive.
Can I backup to an internal drive?
Backing up to a second physical internal drive can be a surprisingly reasonable tool in your backup arsenal as long as you understand its limitations.
Can I do my backups over the internet?
Backing up to a service or server across the internet can be a useful part of a larger backup strategy, but the technique does have important limits.
Can I put more than one machine's backup on an external drive?
It's possible to place the backups for multiple machines onto a single external hard drive; I'll look at the issues and why you might not want to do this.
Can I recover data after I accidentally formatted my hard disk?
Formatting a hard disk erases everything on it. Depending on how the hard disk was formatted, it might be possible to recover data. Or not.
Can I restore the complete backup of one computer onto another and have it work?
The concept seems simple: take a system image of one machine, restore it to another, and avoid lengthy setup time. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
Can I, or should I, use TrueCrypt for my backups?
Backup and encryption can go together depending on your needs. There are options, beginning with which comes first: the backup or the encryption?
Can backups be infected? And if so, what good are they?
It's possible for malware to become part of a backup if your machine is infected at the time of the backup. It's not the end of the world.
Can't I just copy everything instead of using a backup program?
It's tempting to just use file copy tools to backup what you think you need. But if you're not careful, you could easily miss something very important.
Does restoring a backup also reformat the hard drive?
Restoring a backup doesn't technically reformat the drive, but the results are often similar. I'll look at the differences and when they might matter.
How can I archive old hard disks?
Old machines and old hard disks have a way of accumulating over time. We'll look at a few ways to keep the contents without keeping the entire machine.
How can I backup my computer to that of a friend's remotely?
I'll look at a couple of ways to back up to a computer located elsewhere, such as on a friend's or family member's computer, and discuss some of the issues of doing this.
How can I recover my encrypted data from my flash memory device?
Data recovery from flash drives is problematic enough, but recovering encrypted data from a failing flash drive might be nearly impossible.
How did you backup while on your trip?
I took technology with me on my three week vacation, as most of us do. It was an opportunity to think through how best to prepare for the worst.
Backing up is important not only for your PC but for your digital book purchases as well. I'll look at whether you need to and how.
How do I back up my installed software?
Backing up installed software often happens with system backups, but it's not enough. You need additional steps to properly backup installed software.
How do I backup a large number of large PSTs?
Backing up a large number of machines over a network has a number of challenges. PST files are only one aspect of the issue.
How do I backup and restore the registry?
"First backup the registry" is a common instruction when troubleshooting other problems. We look at three different ways to backup the registry.
Backing up your computer is an important step to avoiding data loss. We'll look at what it is, and give a suggestion for average users.
How do I create a disk image using DriveImage XML?
DriveImage XML is a free (for home use) backup and imaging program. I'll walk through the steps of creating a complete hard drive backup image.
How do I reduce the amount of computer maintenance I'm supposed to do?
Computer maintenance need not be a huge burden. Setting a few utilities up to run automatically can reduce the amount of manual work dramatically.
How do I remove uninstalled software "leftovers"?
It's not uncommon for uninstallers to leave behind "leftovers" after they complete. Sometimes intentional, sometimes not. How to deal with leftovers.
How do I restore a backup from a BitLocker encrypted drive?
BitLocker is Microsoft's encryption technology available in some versions of Windows. I'll explain why I don't use it and don't recommend it for backups.
How do I restore from a backup?
You've been good and you've been making sure your machine is backed up regularly. Now I'll cover what happens should you need to restore from a backup.
How do I safely backup an infected drive?
Once your machine is infected, system backups are likely to include the infection as well. I'll look at what steps to take when that happens.
How do I secure the information on my hard drive before sending it in for repair?
When sending your computer out for repair, you're handing over everything on it, including your data. Options for remaining secure are limited.
How do I transfer my system to a replacement hard drive?
Transferring to a replacement drive needn't be difficult. In fact, prepping for a transfer can be as simple as a side effect of backing up regularly.
How do these emergency recovery options compare?
When you have a serious or semi-serious problem with your machine, you're faced with several options for recovery. I'll explain and compare a few.
How long should I keep my backups?
Having a regular backup in place is critical, but then what? We'll look at how long you might want to keep those backups and why.
How long should a hard drive last?
After experiencing another hard drive failure, I realize why you should be scared, and want to share yet more reasons that backups are so critical.
How should I backup my hard drive with several partitions to an external drive?
Backing up to an external drive is an easy way to make sure you're covered in event of failure. But how should that external drive be configured?
How should I protect my computer from natural disasters?
Natural disasters remind us that are computers, among other things, are at risk. I'll look at protecting your computer and more importantly, your data.
How should I save files before reformatting my computer?
Reformatting a computer erases everything on the primary hard drive, so it's important to save your data first. Backup solutions are often best.
I accidentally deleted everything on my hard drive, how do I get it all back?
Deleting large amounts of data from a hard drive by accident can be devastating. Recovery can be hard to impossible. Or easy, if you're prepared.
I formatted my machine and now all my programs and data are gone, how do I get them back?
Reformatting erases everything on your disk. Recovering from an accidental reformat is unlikely unless you've prepared.
I hate to harp on backups, but
If I get this particular backup device, can I then use it to restore my entire system?
Having a device on which to backup data is only half the battle. If you want it to be able to restore your entire machine, additional steps are needed.
If all I do is web browsing, email and video, do I still need to back up?
Even if you use your computer as nothing more than a gateway to the internet it's likely that you still need to take care to back up important data.
Is a backup an alternative to having no Windows installation CDs?
If you've received a new machine without installation media, and you can't get installation media, an immediate full backup can be an alternative.
Is an online backup service a good idea?
Backing up data using an online backup service is lucrative, and can be an important part of an overall strategy - within limits.
Is keeping an image backup of my cleanly installed machine a good idea?
An image backup can serve as a great checkpoint to restore to in the event of failure, and can even help avoid needing to reformat and reinstall.
Is there any way to completely stop downloads and updates to my PC?
It might or might not be possible to stop programs from automatically updating themselves. Most of the time, though, you don't want to interfere.
Macrium Reflect - Powerful Windows Backup Software
Macrium Reflect is a full-featured backup program that supports everything that I consider critical to keeping your important data safely backed up.
My computer froze, and I lost my work in progress - what can I do?
Sooner or later you'll lose something that you're working on due to a crash or other failure. There are habits you can develop to minimize the impact.
My machine won't boot, how do I get at the files on it?
If your machine won't boot for some reason, there are several approaches to try to get the data off of its hard drive. I'll examine a few.
Questions and Answers about Backup
During a recent webinar, there were several good questions about backing up that I've collected into a single video & transcript.
Should I Compress and Encrypt my backups?
Most backup programs offer the options to compress and/or encrypt the data being backed up. I'll look at the pros and cons.
Backing up is, of course, incredibly important. Knowing what to backup, where to backup and how often to backup are just as important.
The First 8 Things You Should Do With Your New Computer
A few steps immediately after you get your new computer can save you a lot of time, effort and loss of data later. I'll review my recommendations.
What backup program should I use?
Backing up your computer's data is critical. What program should you use? There are many, but the best is whichever one that you'll actually use.
What do I do about all the leftovers after an uninstall?
Uninstallers are notorious for leaving things behind. The question is why, and what you can do about it. The answer: various reasons, and not much.
What do I do when my backup drive fills up?
If you're backing up regularly to an external drve chances are you're accumulating lots of data. We'll look at how to organize and what to keep.
What good is an image backup if I just want to backup and restore my data?
Image backups are great ways to backup absolutely everything on a hard disk. They're also good for retrieving most anything, including individual files.
What if I just can't get installation media with my new machine?
You should always get installation media with a new machine. Period. If you can't, or it's too late, we'll look at one partial alternative.
What kind of maintenance should I do to avoid software rot?
Regular maintenance of your computer can help keep it performing well, but some things like software rot, can only be delayed not avoided entirely.
What should I be doing to maintain my computer?
We all hear about anti-malware solutions we should be implementing, but what other things should we be doing to keep our PCs running smooth?
Backing up is important, but terms like "full", "incremental" and even "differential" can easily confuse. We'll look at what these terms mean.
What's the best thing to do when my hard drive fills up?
Once you start running out of disk space, it's time to look at options. We'll cover a couple of approaches to dealing with a full hard drive.
What's the difference between disk imaging and copying?
The word "imaging" when applied to disks is often misused and subject to some interpretation. Imaging can mean different things to different programs.
Where and how should I backup important documents?
Backing up important documents securely is easily overlooked, and yet very important. I'll look at how to backup important documents safely.
Which takes more disk space: backing up, or copying files? And how much?
Backing up properly can take up a fair amount of space. Exactly how much space a backup will take depends on several factors.
Why can I only back up a maximum of 4 gigabytes?
When backing up large amounts of data the filesystem used on the backup media matters. FAT32 often can't handle the way that many backup programs work.
Why can't I rely on System Restore for backups?
There's much confusion about what System Restore actually is and is not. In a nutshell, it's safest not to rely on it to restore your system.
Why didn't you restore from a Disk Image?
I recently described rebuilding a machine from scratch. I'll look at alternatives, one of which some people expected me to use.
Backups are one of the ways that people can protect themselves from everything from hardware failure to virus infections. So why don't people backup?
Why would installing Beta software cause problems?
Installing Beta or pre-release software is, in effect, asking for trouble. One simple precaution can prevent disastrous data loss.