Here’s the thing, I have 200gb g or t on a disk that was my old pc. I used Acronis as a backup device but those are all xp 32 files. So how do I get my files from the backup drive to my new 64 bit os? Now I’m sure I could figure this all out, or hell I could ask my electronics professor, but I kind of feel like I should already know this from the classes I’ve had and how would that look. Anyway I could use a little help with this, so thanks a lot for anyone who can help in advanced.

Thanks Again

Bobby H

I agree that the issue of scheduling is a major problem. In fact, I think it’s the achilles heel of the whole process and the main reason most folks avoid backing up altogether. Note that the Acronis app does a lot of automated stuff, continuous incremental and scheduled, etc. So does the MobileMe solution.

It sounds like you have a good system in place. Like you, I want to have as much insurance as possible when it comes to my data so I back it up across multiple multiple systems and media.

Thanks for the link to Cobian, that looks like another great Windows option. Does it support creating bootable images? That can be a very helpful feature when you’re in the middle of a project and things go down. You can just reboot and you’re back in business until you have time to properly fix the original drive.

Another free app you might want to have a look at for both Windows and Mac (as well as Linux) is the Clonezilla drive cloning program. It functions similarly to Norton Ghost, but it’s Open Source. Warning though: it’s for the more technically inclined. I would advise against playing with this one for folks who want to avoid the über tech side of things.

Your reference to DVD backups is an excellent point. It’s a great way to do offsite backups fairly easily although there is more manual work involved. There’s one tech reviewer who still makes copies of his data and mails them to his mom every month, just to be sure. Since I am a little lazy, I go the Mozy plus mobileMe route since they’re automated and offsite and it’s a double backup to 2 separate offsite networks. Now that’s some insurance!

I agree entirely about not backing up application programs. Usually I will just backup the data files and preferences for those apps in certain cases where those apps store their data someplace other than My Documents (Windows) or Documents (Macs).

Also, for Mac users, you actually can just drag copy an application from one computer to another to install it in most cases since the application is completely self-contained. So if you have a rare app that you no longer have the installation CDs for, there’s still a good reason to copy it. For Windows, as we know, apps really MUST be re-installed from the original installer disks.

Great point about having a separate computer for troubleshooting and Googling too. In fact it’s really a must these days to have access to Google if you’re handling all your own maintenance. A really cheap netbook is great for that sort of thing too. (I’m currently partial to the ASUS Eee PC Seashell.)

Speaking of bad RAM, if you ever need to replace RAM and want to be sure you’re getting exactly what you need, Crucial Memory has a great system scanner that will tell you exactly what you have. I get most of my RAM for both Windows and Mac computers from Crucial.

Thanks again for your great comment!

I used to rely on a calendar program to remind me when to backup. The problem was I was always too busy and would put it off. It’s best to find a solution that lets you automatically schedule backups in the background so you don’t have to make time for it. What I did was download the free Windows program, Cobian
Black Moon. It’s a good program, very flexible, though it could be more intuitive.

Now, what to backup to. My primary backup is to an internal, secondary hard drive. The good of that is that it has tons of space and is very fast. The bad is, if the motherboard goes down, I’ll have to buy a hard drive enclosure and cables to wire it up for transfer (or hope it will run in a new desktop computer should I then get one). For this reason, if I only had one hard drive now, I would get a secondary one, but make it external.

I also make 2 copies of media backups (to DVD-RW) periodically. This is not a background task, unfortunately, but it does have its advantages. One is that you can give the second copy of your media backup to a relative or friend to store off-site — should you have a house fire, for example. Although I don’t update it very often (couple times a year), what I do is keep a flash drive plugged in the computer to keep up with recent file changes, so that taken together, they’re a complete solution. Another advantage of media backup is that should you need it, you can avoid getting the hard drive enclosure above and just go with your DVD plus flash drive to restore your files to another computer.

Lastly I have a larger flash drive that I use to do a complete backup monthly. I realize this is like wearing 3 raincoats, but I’d rather just restore using 1 flash drive than a DVD plus flash drive.

One thing that saves time (and flash drive space) is NOT backing up most program files. You either can just reinstall them from the original CDs/DVDs, or in the case of free programs like OpenOffice or Adobe Reader, download them again. There’s no need to back them up. Only back up your data files (documents, spreadsheets, pictures, pdf, etc).

Since motherboards or memory modules sometimes go bad without telling you what is wrong (you might think it’s your hard drive that has gone) it’s helpful to have a backup computer that can get you online to Google any error codes your OS, BIOS, etc. is generating. I snapped up a cheap Vista laptop a year+ ago during a back to school tax-free weekend, and a few months later, my desktop “died.” I was able to troubleshoot it thanks to being able to get online with the laptop. It turned out to be nothing more than a failed memory module, and for $50 or so I tripled my RAM and got the desktop working again.