automated back up / synchronization

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SerjTank

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#37841 20-Jul-2009 00:10

having just paid several hundred dollars for professionaly data recovery, i'm taking steps to prevent data loss in the future on my home pc. Short of doing raid/striping, are there any good software packages that could back up data between hard driver automatically and regularly? TIA:-)

SerjTank

38 posts

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#237026 20-Jul-2009 00:12

i should add that this is on an xp machine between ntfs drives:)

d3Xt3r

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#237063 20-Jul-2009 08:08

Did you try the Backup or Restore Wizard?

askelon

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#237066 20-Jul-2009 08:27

Cobian Backup onto a second hdd / comp.. http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

CYaBro

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#237075 20-Jul-2009 09:18

ShadowProtect Desktop Edition for about $150 would be my recommendation.
You can do full system images every 15 minutes if you want while still working on the machine.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

SepticSceptic

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#237091 20-Jul-2009 09:57

Microsoft's SyncToy works for me. It's not a true "Backup" per sec, but more of a duplication / sync thing. Whatever has changed in one folder is duplicated to another folder / drive. And vice versa as well, if you want.

Use it at home and at work

freitasm

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#237109 20-Jul-2009 10:22

SerjTank: having just paid several hundred dollars for professionaly data recovery, i'm taking steps to prevent data loss in the future on my home pc. Short of doing raid/striping, are there any good software packages that could back up data between hard driver automatically and regularly? TIA:-)

RAID is not backup. If your PC is stolen the data is lost. If you house burns down your data is lost. If you forget your laptop in the airport your data is lost.

You want a home backup (either Windows Home Server which allows almost unlimited growth, or a NAS unit), plus software.

If you use Windows Vista or Windows 7 you can attach a large external drive and use the built-in backup - it will copy files only or the drive image. You can also use GFI Backup (free) for this

Or you can get Microsoft Synctoy (free) or GoodSync to sync to another PC on your network or a NAS device.

Or use Windows Home Server for automatic backup. You can build the server yourself and buy the software to install. Acer is bringing a server to the NZ market soon.

You can also do like me and use Mozy Backup for an online backup. There other New Zealand-based options too.

Whatever you do, do it twice. I have a backup at home and one on the Internet.

VEB

17 posts

Geek

#238145 23-Jul-2009 09:02

SerjTank,
RAID will add fault-tolerance to your hardware, and consequently, for the data.
As for automated backup there're 2 solutions (which can be actually independent):
1. use an external HDD with a special button, bundled with a driver; just plug-in the drive, push the button on it, and all the data from your PC will be backed-up to the external drive (a one-time initial configuration is requred);
2. I recommend Acronis True Image (now it's been re-branded as Backup & Restore) software, that can be configured to back up your system and data on a regular basis, even while you work at your PC. It is very fast and, based on my several-year-experience, very reliable.
Hope this will help.
VEB.

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Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

tonyhughes

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#238152 23-Jul-2009 09:40

CYaBro: ShadowProtect Desktop Edition for about $150 would be my recommendation.

You can do full system images every 15 minutes if you want while still working on the machine.

+1

Really, this is a fantastic bit of software.