DO WE RELY ON PC's TOO MUCH??

David Hartley · Posted 31 Aug 2007 2:23 pm

My PC has been totally reformatted.. Its taken a week to get things right again. Feeling better tonight now its almost there back to how it was..I really think you need to own about 2 or 3 PC's to have the back-up when they break down.. I think I should get out and walk the dog more? The trouble is, I have just moved from Sony MD to Ipod for backing tracks on the duo gigs with Fran..WHAT A NIGHTMARE getting all that back to how it was..Just gotta get music and video software running as sweet as it was before then I will post a VIDEO! Sad

and now

Michael Hardee · Posted 31 Aug 2007 2:49 pm

If you had a second hard drive on your computer and used Ghost to make complete backups every day you could have been back to normal in a few hours or a day at most.

Mickey Adams · From: Bandera Texas

David, i have always maintained more than one computer. What I have done is run Vista on my main on the web, and then tie 2 more computers with multiple drives, off the web but on the network. One computer has a raid striped array. The main backup backs up both the raid array and the Main Server. the other 2 computers remain free of an internet connection, and remain uninfected or altered. Since doing this I have had no crashes, and havent had to reformat...
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

WE? Maybe you do, but I don't. Oh Well

If your computer crashes and it upsets your life, you're either not living right, or you haven't backed up your files. Computers, like anything else, are subject to problems and eventual failures. If you rely on yours heavily (and it sounds like you do), you should have a back-up computer, or at the very least...a backup for all your critical files.

Computers, once quite expensive devices, are now pretty cheap toys. $300-$400 will get all you need to avoid having the same thing happen a few months...or years down the road..

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

A backup hard drive is a good idea. But another good idea, even on a single hard drive, is to partition your disk and keep all your data separate from your OS files. IMO, there are a couple of important advantages:

1. You can wipe clean the OS partition and reinstall the OS and software periodically without having to worry about your data. Over a period of time, I have had Windows system integrity problems because of registry corruption, sometimes after as little as a year or two of installing and uninstalling software, service packs, upgrades, and so on. YMMV, but I find it's a good idea to routinely re-install the OS, service packs, security updates, and so on, every year, or at most two years. I agree it's a pain, but it's better than having the whole thing crash.

2. It simplifies data backup - I just copy data partition(s) to the backup hard drive or separate file server. I mostly use a laptop which has no internal second drive capability, so I do automated backup to both a USB external hard drive and over a network to a file server. This goes with #1.

Another trick is to make a copy of the OS partition right after you get everything installed and working properly, but before the registry and other system components start getting iffy. Then all one needs to do for the annual OS reinstall is copy the original tweaked and saved OS partition, and then apply any incremental service packs, security updates, and new software since the last reinstall.

As far as relying too much on computers - well, computer and info sciences is my day (and sometimes night) gig, so I really don't have any choice.

Mickey Adams · From: Bandera Texas

As succeptible to crashes as the Windows family of Os's are, and will continue to be (theyre all Beta versions if you asked me) your single HD is not sufficient IMHO. Ive had numerous hard drives fail as well, especially Seagate HDs. This renders the second partition useless as well. Youre bets defense would be to get familiar with RAID striping. Anytime you place a file on the #1 drive, it will automatically enter a duplicate on the striped drive. The chances of 2 drives failing at the same time (other than a massive power surge from a lightning strike) are very unlikely. You would merely have to replace a failed drive on the array, and they can be easily synced.
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Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

As Mickey said, two drive letters on the same hard disk are no safeguard. It gives the illusion that you have two hard disks whereas in fact if one drive fails both will!

I back up on external hard disks. That way I can just plug into the USB port of whatever machine I'm going to use. I then backup the data from the external to the internal disks on each machine, so that at any time the same data are saved on several machines.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

Montana, log cabin, dobro, venison stew.... Muttering

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

If you read my post carefully, you will see that the suggestion to keep data on separate partition(s) was not a substitute for a second hard drive, but something to be done in addition to having backup hard drive(s).

The problems with mixing data up on the same partition as the OS files are

1. One needs to go in and ferret out the data whenever one wants to make a backup. There are automatic ways to do this, but it's much easier for the casual user if it's just on a separate partition.

2. It isn't as easy to do routine OS wipes.

There is no substitute for data backup. But I don't think it's a good idea to rely strictly on whole hard drive backups. IMO, the problem is that the system files and especially the registry can become corrupted over time. As I said, I think it's far better to keep backup copies of the tweaked fresh install, and just copy that over periodically. This way, one doesn't need to go back and install drivers, software, tweak the interface, and so on, each time the OS partition is wiped. One only needs to update service packs, security updates, and software installed since the last OS wipe. Then once that is done, one can back up this tweaked OS partition to use next time. Then each time the OS is wiped, only incremental updates of things done to the system since the last wipe need to be updated.

I think RAID is useful, though probably over the head of the typical user. Nor do I think it is a substitute for backing up up fresh tweaked OS installs plus separate data backup. Just my opinion.

David Hartley · Posted 31 Aug 2007 11:14 pm **I am taking all your comments in......BUT**

This may be a simple question... I have a 30gb external hard drive but every time I change a file within a folder on the main PC, I then have to remember to back it up by dragging ot to the external HD and replacing the original file with the modified or new one....Is there a simple way of having any automatic way of doing this without buying software? I know this is a steel guitar forum and not a Windows XP forum, but once this question has been answered I will ask for the thread to be closed..REGARDS DAVID HARTLEY

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Well, the RAID striping would do that - but there is certainly software and drivers involved in doing this.

My external HD came with automatic backup software. Generally, one can get the drives with or without the software, and I decided that it would be worth it to get the version with for an extra $10 or 20.

There are also quite a few free back up programs, for example see these urls:

http://www.backupcentral.com/components/com_mambowiki/index.php/Free_Backup_Software

http://free-backup.info/backup-software.htm

I imagine this is the tip of a large iceberg.

Mark White · From: Michigan, USA

I use Second Copy http://www.secondcopy.com/ and it works quite well. It's not free but not too expensive either ($30). It watches for changes in the folders you designate and copies them to a second location at the intervals you specify (every day, every hour etc.). You can 'try before you buy' too. I also use Acronis True Image for imaging the whole drive to a second drive. http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ It also will image to a burner. $50.

Jim Kennedy · From: Brentwood California, USA

Twenty six years ago I worked on main frame computers. Everything was backed up religously. When I started working on desk top computers--remember 8 1/2 inch floppies ? ?--nobody backed up anything. I would come in and fix a hard disc crash and get the system going. Then the big question: Where are my files?? Did you back them up?? Umm . . .

The most important thing that anyone can do to protect their data is to make backups. All mechanical devices will fail. I use two physical hard drives in my computer. I manually back up my important data files to an external hard drive and then I turn it off. I then occasionally make DVD's of the external drive in case it fails. Pretty simple, but it works for me. Do it as simple as as fancy as you want. No matter how much or how little you rely on your computer, sooner or later your data will be lost if you don't back up.
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