How do I backup data?

Hi, I hope this is the correct forum to post the following:

I had a serious virus the other year and am anxious to back up my data. Also, w/my hard drive beign old I worry about it crashing at any moment.
I recently found out I will need to uninstall my Microsoft Word and so I"m needing to copy/backup/transfer all my Microsoft Word documents (and i have many!).

I recently installed OpenOffice and at the recommendation of Tomcoyote, have selected Openoffice to be the defalut application to open all my MIcrosoft Word documents so now they all seem to have been converted to OpenOffice file documents.

What I'm most wanting to save are the above Word/Office documents in "My Documents" and all my pictures in "My pictures"

I have purchased an X Digital Media secure digital card (SD Card + Card Reader) and USB 4-port Hub for this purpose. (all my ports are annoyingly on the back of my computer).
But I have never used these things and do Not know how to use it!! It came w/no instructions.

So, I plugged in my SD card into my Microinnovations USB 4-port Hub and the message appeared:
“High speed usb device attached to Non-high speed hub.
The unknown usb device is a high-speed usb device & will function at reduced speed when plugged into a non-high speed port.
The hubs shown in bold type have free ports that can support the high-speed usb device=
USB Root Hub 4 ports. (VIA USB 2.0 enhanced host controller)"

……Do you think I should not use the above USB 4-port hub I bought since its apparently a non-high speed hub? The package didnt describe it as that ; ( .

I don't know exactly how to copy/transfer my above document files and pictures onto this SD Card.
Please let me know how to do this correctly.
Thank you and I hope to hear back!
Safira

hi Safira, i will try to help you. you can ignore the msg about:" High speed usb device attached to Non-high speed hub" just close the window or ballon popup. your flash card should appear on your computer as a removable drive. once you have it connected, right click on the my computer icon on your desktop and select open. you should see the drive listed under "devices with removable storage" windows will assign it a drive letter like F: the name might appear also: X digital. if you double click the icon on your removable drive a window will open. at the top go to File>New>Folder. it will create a folder, rename the new folder photos, create a second new folder call it documents. then browse for the pics and documents you want to keep and drag/drop them into the folders. you are actually now moving them on to the removable flash card. dont now the capacity of the flash cards you have, but pictures can consume a lot of space. when you are done, right click on the icon down by the clock that shows the removable drive, there might also be a icon that when you toggle over it says: "safely remove hardware" doubleclick it a window will open with the removable drive, click on the drive and select stop, ok before removing. this is to power down the USB connection before removal. you can now disconnect everything. your documents/photos should now be stored on the removable drive.

Hi Shelf LIfe and Thank You much for trying to help me out here

I'm glad to read that I can use my usb 4-port hub since i have no ports on the front of my computer.

Under My Computer, my sd/flash card is listed as Removable Disk (F:)

if you double click the icon on your removable drive a window will open. …….Did you mean double click on the icon it where its listed as "devices with removable storage"?

When I did, a Removable Disk (F:) window opened and I can see the file option there.
How do I name/rename the folders?
How exactly do I browse/drag and drop the pics/documents into the new folders?
I hate to ask the above q's but im having other comptuer troubles currently and am getting confused, so i appreciate all help ; )

My SD Card is a 512MB

right click on the icon down by the clock that shows the removable drive,

I didnt see an icon that shows the removable drive.
I do see the "safely remove hardware" icon.

Thanks for letting me know i need to power down that usb conneciton before removing it.
Is it unsafe to leave the SD Card plugged into the usb port and turn the computer off and back on? i forgot it was there and did so.


Thanks again for your help as i couldnt find a link on google that ex plains how to use these things.
Om Mani Padme Hum,
Safira

hi Safira,

no ports on the front of my computer.

if you can get to the back, you should find at least two.

s it unsafe to leave the SD Card plugged into the usb port and turn the computer off and back on? i forgot it was there and did so.

to be safe you can leave the usb hub plugged in, but i would remove the card itself from the reader and only have the card in when your actually going to be using it.

shelf life

ps: translation: Om Mani Padme Hum?

sorry i missed those other questions last time.

How do I name/rename the folders

when you doubleclick the F: drive (your flash card) at the top go to File>new>folder. It should create a new empty folder on the drive. backspace thru "new folder" (the windows default name) and type pics or whatever. you can also right click on it and select rename from the options.

How exactly do I browse/drag and drop the pics/documents into the new folders?

with your flash drive showing and the new folders you made, resize the open window so its smaller, but dont close it. then go to my documents,my pictures which is usually the windows default or where ever your pics/documents are located. resize that window also. so now you have two windows, one is your flash drive one is the pics or documents.

now if you left click on a document or pic and holding the mouse button down drag the item over to the flash drive folder and release the mouse button.it will be moved from your computer onto your flash drive

if you right click on a document or pic and holding the mouse button down drag the item over to the flash drive folder, release mouse– you get the option of moving or copying the item there. if you copy it to the flash drive you will still have a copy on your computer also.

shelf life

Thanks for your reply So I can leave the 4-port USB hub plugged into the computer port, and I should remove the SD card from the reader…..I assume I should also remove the whole reader from the 4-port hub? Are SD Cards a safer/more lasting way to save data over cd's? How long will SD Cards last? Aol now has something called "X Drive" but I havent tried that yet and I want to keep things as simple as possible! Om Mani Padme Hum Translation: From Sanskrit, Chenrezig's mantra, I believe, can be rendered: "You, the Lotus Jewel, grant your omniscience". bbfn, Safira

Hi again,

I wanted to ask before I forget:

"When you are done, right click on the icon down by the clock that shows the removable drive" I didnt see any icon except for the safely remove hardware one, so is that ok?

When I doubleclicked on the safely remove hardware icon and then clicked on the drive,

A Stop a hardware device window popped up saying: Confirm devices to be stopped.
Windodws will attempt to stop the following devices:
USB mass storage device (this was the only one that was shaded)
Generic volume – (F:)
Multi Flash Reader USB device

I clicked on the "USB mass storage device" ….is that the right one??

with your flask drive showing and the new folders you made, resize the open window so its smaller, but don't close it"

I dont know how to resize the window so its smaller but still visible. When I clicked on minimize, the whole windows disappears into the taskbar at the bottom.

I tried it and I think I did it successfully? There was a little white box w/plus sign when i moved the picture/document.
Thank you for explaining how to do that! And im glad you told me w/the R click ill have the option of copying instead of just moving

bbfn,
Safira

hi Safira,

So I can leave the 4-port USB hub plugged into the computer port, and I should remove the SD card from the reader…..I assume I should also remove the whole reader from the 4-port hub?

yes i would remove the card/reader from the hub when your done, after you power down the usb connection like you did here:

I didnt see any icon except for the safely remove hardware one, so is that ok?

thats the one

and here:

A Stop a hardware device window popped up saying: Confirm devices to be stopped.
Windodws will attempt to stop the following devices:
USB mass storage device (this was the only one that was shaded)
Generic volume – (F:)
Multi Flash Reader USB device

I clicked on the "USB mass storage device" ….is that the right one?

thats the one

I dont know how to resize the window so its smaller but still visible. When I clicked on minimize, the whole windows disappears into the taskbar at the bottom.

sounds like you got it already, you can try this if you want:
with any window open, look in top right corner you should see a minus looking sign, a double looking box and a X
click on the double looking box, so it becomes a single box. move your mouse cursor to the very edge of any part of the window, it will almost appear off screen and change to a double arrow.
when its a double arrow left click the mouse button and you can resize the window from the top and the side.
to get a single non resizable window back click the single looking box up at the top so you see two boxes again.

Are SD Cards a safer/more lasting way to save data over cd's?
How long will SD Cards last?
Aol now has something called "X Drive" but I havent tried that yet and I want to keep things as simple as possible!

one thing about cds is you can display the pics and things easily on other computers. with a flash card the other computer would need a card reader or you would have to bring yours. on the other hand you could get a small portable usb drive and transfer pics etc to another computer that way.

see link:
http://www.startribune.com/10048/story/476852.html

that xdrive sounds like a off site storage space. there are alot of them around. they provide storage for pics etc that you upload to there server. alot have free space up to so much that is, like 1GB, then you pay after that. other people can view your pics also. read carefully before using one, to avoid any surprises.

shelf life

Hi Shelf LIfe,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my many q's ; ) and for sharing w/me how to resize the window ; )

Thanks for the link! I didn't know that the electrical charge goes after 10 years on flash drives ; (

You must call up, or update, each individual file and the electrical charge will be renewed and you're good for another 10 years,

What did they mean by calling up/updated each file? Do they mean view the file?

bbfn,
Safira

hi Safira, yes, viewing the (file) picture or whatever it happens to be. shelf life

Thanks, Shelf Life……….do you know a gook link that shows how to save data on cd's? I'm wondering if i should try just in case the card reader/card gets damaged. bbfn, Safira

Hi Safira,
I thought I would just step in here whilst shelf life gets his breath back!
Here's a link that should give you a working guide to saving data to a cdr.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306524
Regards,
paws

hi Safira, theres three things you need: a cd burner,software and a blank CDr. Most computers come with burners these days so you probably already have the software installed. do you know what cd burning software you have? it might be as easy as putting in a blank cd, launching the software, browse for what you want to burn, drag the files over and hit the burn button. shelf life

Hi Paws, Thanks for the link ; ) "Double-click My Computer, and then click the files or folders that you want to copy to the CD. " I did not understand the above part. technical language seems foreign to me. By clicking the files I want to copy, do they mean double click or single click? I got to My Computer, then I double-clicked to get to My Documents where they are listed separately. "To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want." **** Do they mean hold down the CTRL key After I've opened (double-clicked) the document I want? i dont understand this at all…..how can I copy/select more than 1 file at the same time? onto next post, Safira