Backup data

Hello
Xp home, sp3. Both Desktop and laptop.
I back up My Documents to one flash drive and sensitive data I do not want/keep in the pc's, to a different flash drive. It may be more awkward than I need to and I wanted to know if someone had an easier idea.
1-update +open my doc's in the desktop. Select all and send contents to the flash drive.
*Before doing so I delete the contents of the flash drive as there are problems like duplications etc. even though the prompt says,"Woud you like to replace all ?"
2-Insert the flash drive in the laptop. Delete My Doc's contents there, then send the contents of the updated flash drive to My Doc's in the lap top. Empty the recycle bin.
3-Insert the sentive data flash drive in the desktop where I do not delete any info but just make any amendments, then save and remove.
Any easier suggetions to 'back up' welcome. Cds are expensive weekly and I have no other media to back up to. Imaging, although a failure for product reasons, was more difficult and costly although it seems the best. Am I over doing it or does this seem fuctional and somewhat effient?
Thank you

Hi,

The method you use is pretty efficient in my opinion. Especially if you just want to back up documents and other important files and do not want to spend money on this.

Imaging, although a failure for product reasons, was more difficult and costly although it seems the best.

Well, I would not agree that it is the best. If you want to backup your whole system, so also programs and settings I would, but not if you are doing documents, pictures, etcetera.

One thing that could make this easier is transferring the files over the network. That is what I do. My laptop is wirelessly connected and my desktop is in the same network. I have set them to be able to browse each others files and be able to easily transfer files. What I regularly do is just create a folder (I do not synchronize the documents like you do) and then just copy/paste it through the network. This is less work but on the other hand it might very well be slower.

If you have not configured the computers to see each others hard drives I certainly would not do this as it would be more work anyway.

Maybe other people have more suggestions but I do not at all think that you are doing too much work here. Safe and simple.

Regards,
John.

Godd to hear, John, and thank you for the support.

I'd recommend getting an external USB 2.0 drive enclosure, with fan and at least a 250GB hard drive (IDE). Then buy Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost or go the free route and use DriveImage XML.

If you go the DIXML route then you will want to also get and build Ultimate Boot CD For Windows (UBCD4WIN),. It is a bootable CD that you create on your computer using your own copy of Windows XP. One of it's included tools is DIXML so in the event of a hard drive failure you just replace the drive, boot the UBCD4WIN CD and restore from your external USB drive.

Keep the backup current. I keep two full backups and replace the oldest. I do this usually once every two months unless I've made some significant changes to my system in which case I do it immediately

Using an external HD is more expensive but is better than using flash drives which are prone to failure. HDs can also fail but they normally have a much longer lifespan than any kind of flash storage. An external USB 2.0 enclosure with a fan costs more than one without a fan but is worth every penny as it will helps to extend the life of any drive you place in it.

If you go with Acronis (my recommendation) then you can schedule the backups to run automatically when you are not using the computer. You can also encrypt the backup if you want so no one can read it.

As for copying data from your desktop to your laptop, why not copy it instead of using a flash drive to transport it? All you need to do is setup a share on the laptop for My Documents and set it to allow other computers to change it. Then on the desktop, create a batch file that uses xcopy to copy data from the desktop to the laptop.

I do this all the time between my desktop and laptop computers. The batch file would look something like this:

@echo off
xcopy "C:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxx\My Documents\*.*" \\laptop\mydocs\ /s/h/r/i/k/e/y

xxxxxxxx is your account name on the desktop
\\laptop\mydocs is the share you setup on the laptop
/s/h/r/i/k/e/y are the parameters you pass to xcopy

Note that the source path for xcopy needs to be enclosed in double quotes, as shown.

On the batch file note, you can use a username variable so that you don't have to type in your username. Not really necessary but if you ever change your username or use it on a different account you won't have to change the batchfile.

At that you can even use the userprofile variable which includes all of this:
C:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxxxx\

So if you just use

@echo off
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "Laptop\My Documents Backup /s/h/r/i/k/e/y"

You don't have to worry about what your username is.

Also, if you still want to delete the old folder before copying add this after @echo off.

rd "Laptop\My Documents Backup" /S /Q

Of course you will have to change "Laptop\My Documents Backup" to the path of your back up first.

So the batch file code would be:

@echo off
rd "Laptop\My Documents Backup" /s /q
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "Laptop\My Documents Backup" /s/h/r/i/k/e/y

and just to add a little ease so that when you change the back up path you don't have to do it in both places…

Final Code:

@echo off
set BackupPath=Laptop\My Documents Backup
rd "%BackupPath%" /s /q
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "%BackupPath%" /s/h/r/i/k/e/y

All you have to do is change the Laptop\My Documents Backup in the 2nd line to whatever path you want to back up too and it will use that value to find the folder to delete and backup to, saving you some short typing time. Make sure you don't add quotes around the path though and don't add spaces after or before the = sign, it's supposed to be touching the path name.

All good points. Excellent idea to use the system provided environment variables. Thanks.

When you move all your documents using command prompt, will you see how much is done (percentage) and how long it will take? I have also thought about moving over the network using command prompt but I really like the window that you see when moving something. It roughly indicates how long I have to wait and how much is done.

Hello all You guys are so talented - really. I read with wonder at what you are doing. I never touched a pc till few years ago and am self taught through wonderful forums like these. Due to age, health, $ and inexperience, accept my thanx for your comments but I have to stick with my rudimentary little ways. I asked if my way of backing up was 'in the ballpark' and now realize that flash drives, being unreliable, may be a problem. That, compunded by the clumsiness of my procedure, need attention. I will be careful as possible and thank you for your comments. Hope you enjoyed your interchange of ideas.

When you move all your documents using command prompt, will you see how much is done (percentage) and how long it will take?

I have also thought about moving over the network using command prompt but I really like the window that you see when moving something. It roughly indicates how long I have to wait and how much is done.

Command Prompt doesn't do that, but it does show you every file as it is being moved, and it does alphabetically so if you have an idea of what stuff you are backing up, then you can estimate yourself how long it is going to take. And I believe that self-estimate to be much closer to any Windows Explorer Estimate as I have never seen it give the right time when copying over 100mg or so of information. Even the progress bar is always off as it will sometimes just stop or jump ahead, defeating the purpose of it. It is more accurate when moving smaller file or folder collections, but for large things I think the Command Prompt way is at no disadvantage.

@Grampy Pete,

and now realize that flash drives, being unreliable, may be a problem

Flash Drives aren't exactly unreliable, I've used mine (2g) for almost 3 years now to hold all of my school assignments and homework, and not once has it ever failed me. Even through all the un-safe unplugs and whiplash it receives when I swing it around (I don't suggest doing that). What you backup your files to partly depends on the importance of them. If you lost your My Documents folder, would you also lose your job, education, or something else largely important? If so I would consider investing in a large external drive like Ztruker suggested. I have a 110g one myself and I keep my own backups of My Documents on it.

Still, you are not at any large risk using your flash drive to backup to. I would say that not having enough size on your flash drive to hold My Documents should be a larger worry than the efficiency of backing up to it. Another thing to consider is how often do you use that flash drive? If you only use it to backup to, it's much more safe than if you use it for other things too. A flash drive will not usually crash, corrupt, or lose data just sitting on a desk (unless it's physically damaged), but when it's in a computer and being accessed or unplugged.

Using your Flash Drive is fine as long as you use Safely Remove to unplug it and take other ordinary precautions with storing data to USB devices.

Hello Vectris I use the flash drives once a week and then they sit on my desk so hopefully they will be o.k. They are so cheap I may get two more so I can have double backups. Your logic is sound and your advice well spoken. Thank you