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Thread ID: 38802	2003-10-19 01:03:00	Data Backup	Ichthus (165)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
184627	2003-10-19 01:03:00	A local Childcare center has asked me about what they should be doing about backing up information held on their computer, accounts/invoices and procedures/compliance documentation. Not sure of the computer specs but OS is Xp Pro and no burner. No sure the amount of data to backup, guess around a cds worth at this point, 640mb or there about. I am thinking options are purchasing a external storage devise? Tape, zip or burner. Pros and cons? Or what about on-line backup services, anyone have any experience with these? All feedback greatly appreciated.	Ichthus (165)
184628	2003-10-19 01:59:00	Oh definitely a CD writer, preferably internal if possible. They are much quicker and easier to use than tapes and Zip drives, not to mention probably a lot cheaper as well, both for the unit itself and the media (CDs). An external USB writer will be more expensive (twice the price?) than internal but does have the advantage of portability between systems if necessary. If that is the only option be sure that the USB ports on the computer are USB 2 rather than USB 1 or the writer may not work (too slow).	Susan B (19)
184629	2003-10-20 09:14:00	Thanks for the feedback Susan B. I am leaning toward an internal writer, any recommendations for backup software? Would still be interested in some feedback from anyone about online providers for data backup so I can give the childcare center some comparisons. Cheers	Ichthus (165)
184630	2003-10-20 09:24:00	Online is slow and expensive . If they are on dial-up, forget it . The CD writer is the best option and training is not too intensive . It can be reduced to a few simple steps . I'm picking that they won't have a lot of data to back up anyway . I've been in business ten years now and everything I've ever done will still fit on one CD with room to spare . For simplicity they are best to just backup the crucial folders and if the drive is set up properly they could drag and drop just one root folder to the CD-R and the nested folders of data would follow . Given the capacity of CD-R, back up software is not essential . A manual backup every friday night (and taken off site) would be sufficient . Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
184631	2003-10-20 09:52:00	Appriciate your comments Billy T I will put some options together for the center. Looks like another IT working-bee coming up...	Ichthus (165)
184632	2003-10-20 19:45:00	I have a client that likes to set&forget. I have used a free backup program called Cobian Backup. I have set up the folders & files that need backing up and set it to backup daily to CDR/W and all he does is change out the CDR/W each Friday for a fresh one as an offsite "fire" copy. Have a short cut which once a month he copies to CDR for storage as CDR are more reliable at holding data over time.	Pheonix (280)
184633	2003-10-20 19:53:00	That sounds like a good idea, and while you are at it Ichthus, take a look and see why there is 600+ MB of info on the disk. That is probably OS and data combined. Make sure that there is a clear directory structure for the data, either that or (heaven forbid) it is at least all stored under "My Documents" Ugh!! I hate that MS naming stuff, it is so twee. First thing I always do is rename all that stuff to something less irritating, like "Documents" for example. I mean, how do they know they are my documents, they could be somebody else's documents that I just happen to work on! OK,OK........ Rant over. :8} Cheers Billy 8-{) [pre][b]Sheesh, I think I need more coffee, I'm not up to the strain of these early morning posts. :(	Billy T (70)
184634	2003-10-20 20:23:00	Cheapest option is to install a second hard drive and use the backup in windows Xp Pro to backup to the second hard drive.	Augustus (4490)
184635	2003-10-20 20:42:00	> Cheapest option is to install a second hard drive and use the backup in windows Xp Pro to backup to the second hard drive . Sorry, but I disagree with that for the following reason: the computer may be stolen or destroyed in a fire, etc and all the data lost with it . Having the backups on CDs enables them to be taken off site for security . One can, however, use a second hard drive in addition to backing up to CDs which is what I do myself .	Fire-and-Ice (3910)
184636	2003-10-20 23:14:00	It sound very good Pheonix, where did you get this Cobian Backup from? would it work with w2k. i have ben using CD-Rw for backups with INCD from nero on win 98 but have seroius problems with INCD on w2k. CD-R and CD-RW is the cheapest and fastets backup for small business.	andrzej (3843)
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