Info > Backup
Backup.
First & Foremost: Back Up
An Insurance Policy For Your Priceless Files
There’s no such thing as an easy OS (operating system) reinstallation, even with
Windows XP. Optimally you should wipe the hard drive completely clean by
reformatting it, thereby giving WinXP a clean slate to work with so PC problems
from the past don’t come back to haunt you. Even if you simply reinstall WinXP
on top of itself, there’s no guarantee of success, and that’s why having a good
backup plan is so valuable.
Think of all the files you have on your computer right now: Important emails,
financial information, calendars, work documents, Web browser bookmarks, and
countless others that would be difficult (if not impossible) to restore. Getting
all of these files over to your new WinXP installation is a chore, but backup
software eases the pain.
Make A Backup Plan
Before reinstalling WinXP, write down all of the things you do using the
computer. Make sure you include everything in the list, including stuff such as
editing photos, listening to downloaded music, playing games, visiting certain
Web sites where you have a subscription, etc.
In addition, write down the names of all of the programs you use to
accomplish these tasks. This list gives you a good idea of the types of files
you need to back up, beyond the usual suspects such as the My Documents folder.
Many programs, such as Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010, let users export application data
to a handy backup file. This can be a CSV file or a special file for Microsoft Products called a PST file.
When you're reinstalling an OS, there's really no need to back up your entire
hard drive. All of your Windows applications are tied directly to the existing
installation of WinXP, so when you reinstall WinXP, you’ll naturally need to
reinstall all of those programs.
Be sure to have your original application discs and serial numbers handy for
the reinstallation process. If you’ve downloaded any software instead of buying
it on disc, be sure to include your downloaded copy in your list of items to
back up. If you can’t find the download, at least try to dig up the serial or
registration number, as you’ll likely be able to redownload the software and
reactivate it. It is strongly recommended that you always retain a media based copy of downloaded files and digital media. This includes iTunes, Amazon and B&N sourced media.
Create a central backup folder that is easy to find and use it to store copies
of all the stray files you find that you want to keep. We recommend opening My
Computer from the Start menu or Desktop, double-clicking the icon that
represents the hard drive (usually C:), right-clicking an empty area within the
folder window, expanding New, and clicking Folder.
Name the new folder “Reinstall Backup” and then use the mouse’s right button
to drag it to the Desktop, release the mouse button, and click Create Shortcuts
Here. Now you can drop things into the folder using the convenient Desktop
shortcut, and when your backup software wants to know where the backup folder
is, simply direct it to C:\REINSTALL BACKUP.
Also, check the applications you regularly use to see if they let you create
backup files directly from their interface, which you can then import back into
the software when the reinstallation process is complete. Email applications
such as Microsoft Outlook are great examples of this because most of them let
you back up your email, address book, calendar, and other data into compact
files that you can place in your Reinstall Backup folder.
Use WinXP Backup
WinXP comes with a basic Backup utility that should be sufficient for most
people. It’s installed by default in WinXP Professional, but WinXP Home users
may not realize it exists.
To install it on WinXP Home systems, insert the installation CD-ROM in the
computer’s optical drive, open My Computer, double-click the icon that
represents the optical drive, and navigate to D:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP (where D
represents the letter assigned to your PC’s optical drive) on the installation
CD-ROM. Then, double-click the Ntbackup.msi file, follow the on-screen prompts
to install the utility, and reboot the computer.
If you know where all of the files you want to back up are, use Advanced mode to
direct Windows to their locations.
Third-Party Alternatives
The WinXP Backup software should do the job for most people, but there are far
more powerful and user-friendly backup utilities out there if you need extra
help. Some are very specific in what they do, such as Genie Games Backup (free;
www.genie-soft.com /products/gbmgames). Others, such as Cobian Backup (free;
www.educ.umu.se /~cobian/cobianbackup.htm),
seem to do nearly everything and are far superior to Microsoft’s bundled
utility.
To use Cobian Backup, double-click the free download file, select the I Accept
The License radio button, click Next, select the I’ll Educate Myself And Read
The FAQ checkbox, click Next, click Next again, select the As An Application No
Autostart button, click Next, and click Done.
If you want to restore files to different locations, click the Advanced button
during the restore procedure to access this drop-down menu.
Also, click Unblock if WinXP’s Firewall displays any messages. Then, open the
Start menu, choose All Programs, click Cobian Backup 7, and click another Cobian
Backup 7 listing.
Click Task and then click New Task. Leave everything alone on the General tab
and click the Files tab. Click the Drag’n’Drop From Explorer link and drag and
drop all of the folders and files you want to back up into the Source area to
create one big backup list. If you accidentally include something you want to
remove from the list, click its entry to highlight it and then click the red X
icon to the right of the Source area.
To tell the program where to put the backup files, drag and drop the icon for
your backup device into the Destination area, or click the folder icon to the
right of the box to manually search for the device.
As with WinXP’s Backup utility, the software won’t back up files directly to
CDs or DVDs; for that, you’ll need to invest in commercial software, such as
Handy Backup ($30 and up; www.handybackup.net). Or you can back up your data to
an external hard drive, secondary hard drive, or another computer located on
your home network.
Click OK, click Task, and click Run All Tasks Now. You can create more backup
tasks, or you can double-click the name of an existing task to modify it if
necessary before completing the final backup.
Using the options we just recommended, Cobian makes carbon copies of your data
onto the backup device, retaining all of the folders and subfolders with the
data you selected. That means restoring the data after the reinstall requires
only that you drag and drop it from the backup media to the hard drive.
Acronis (http://www.acronis.com) is another very highly rated manufacturer of
backup software. Read the enclosed instructions very carefully, and in
fact, include some time to browse their web site. For most users, the home
version of their backup product - True Image - is exactly what is needed.
This is powerful software and provides a lot of capabilities for backups.
Complex Isn’t Always Better
There are plenty of choices when it comes to backup software, but we recommend
that you keep it as simple as possible when preparing to reinstall an OS.
Features such as file compression, which packs data down so it consumes less
storage space, or encryption, which encodes data so that only those with a
password can access it, are great, but they also add several steps to the backup
and restoration processes where things can go wrong.
Unless security is a big issue or storage space is at a premium, leave your
data uncompressed and unencrypted when reinstalling it. You can worry about
those issues later, after you know everything is working again.
Summary.
First, make a plan to backup. Evaluate the tools that you have to
backup with. Buying an external hard drive, and dragging files from My
Documents to the external drive each day is better than no backup plan at all.
When you move to the next level of backing up, and begin to use software
tools, learn the terms: Full Backup, Differential Backup, Incremental
Backup, Partial Backup.
Finally, review and validate your data on an ongoing basis to ensure that the
data can be recognized by the software that you use.
If you are using software and data in a mission critical environment - i.e.
to run our own business, to manage your portfolio, etc, consider storing your
original software media, and periodic copies of your backup DVD's or CD's
offsite in a safe deposit box.
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