All Categories » General Computing » Maintenance and Backup

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

How do I backup my computer?
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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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? (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

I hate to harp on backups, but

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

So what should I backup?
Backing up is, of course, incredibly important. Knowing what to backup, where to backup and how often to backup are just as important. (Continue reading...)

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 which ever one you actually will use. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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? (Continue reading...)

What's an incremental backup?
Backing up is important, but terms like "full", "incremental" and even "differential" can easily confuse. We'll look at what these terms mean. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

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. (Continue reading...)

Why don't people back up?
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? (Continue reading...)

Why isn't there a restore point where I want to go back to?
Restore points are a handy way to undo problematic system changes. Even though you can control it some, restore points can only go back so far. (Continue reading...)