More on finding Windows backup
For this, I tapped into my test box, which was made by eMachines. It arrived with
Windows XP Home already installed. It also arrived with three restore discs. I put
the first disc into the drive and clicked Start>>Run. I entered the drive letter
in the box with a colon (D:) and pressed OK. That showed me the folders and files
on the disc.
One of the folders is VALUEADD. The eMachines disc works like the Windows XP one.
I clicked VALUEADD>>MSFT>>NTBACKUP>>NTBACKUP.MSI. Jackpot!
Hewlett-Packard's situation is more involved. As it happens, Ted, one of the guys
in the office, recently bought a Hewlett-Packard home computer. Like you, his restore
data was placed on a separate partition.
Ted used the instant messaging system that is installed on his HP computer. He clicked
Start>>Help and Support>>HP Instant Support. He was quickly connected with a tech
at Hewlett-Packard. These were the steps for Ted's computer:
--Click Start>>All Programs>>Hewlett-Packard
--Click HP PC Tools>>HP Application Recovery
--Select Application>>click Next
--Select the Microsoft VALUEADD Folder
--Click Install
--Click OK
--Click Quit
The Backup utility still must be installed.
--Click Start>>My Computer
--Double-click C:
--Double-click I386
--Double-click VALUEADD
--Double-click MSFT
--Double-click NTBACKUP folder
--Double-click NTBACKUP icon
--When the installation is complete, click Finish.
Once Backup is installed, you can access it by clicking Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>System
Tools>>Backup.
I also received questions about Windows 98. Like XP, it requires a CD. Here are the
steps:
Click Start>>Settings>>Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Select the
Windows Setup tab. Click System Tools>>Details. Click Backup>>OK>>OK.
At this point, you will be asked for your CD. If all you have is a restore CD from
the computer manufacturer, try inserting that. You also could try getting help from
the manufacturer. Additionally, Windows 98 discs are available on eBay.
There are several ways to back up. The more ways you do it, the less likely you are
to have a problem. So let's go through the options.
If you're on a network, you can back up to another machine. If you have two machines,
they can be backed up to one another. At the office, I back up to the server.
Perhaps the most secure backup is online. There are a number of companies that will
store your data. They are more expensive than doing it yourself, but are less likely
to fail. If you don't have tons of data to back up, they are a viable option.
You would pay as little as $50 per year to @Backup for 50 megabytes of space, or
$995 for 2 gigabytes. Two GB is the minimum at Data Protection Services, which charges
$80 per month. You can store 150 GB or more, if you want, at $20 per gigabyte. You'll
find these firms at:
http://www.backup.com/ http://www.dataprotection.com/
You can use a second hard drive, either external or internal. As you point out, they
can fail. You also can use a burner, either a CD or DVD. Those discs should last
as long as you need them. Another option is a Zip drive.
I used tape drives for many years. But they are expensive, and most have not kept
up with the growth in hard drives. So I no longer recommend tape.
Despite your problem, I still like backing up to a hard drive. That is a really fast
process. But you might consider using an online service for your most critical data--a
backup for your backup. Hopefully, that would keep you out of trouble!
Using RAID to backup data
Before I explain that, let's talk about RAID. That's an acronym for redundant array
of independent disks. There are a number of ways to set up RAID. I won't bore you
with that. You're talking about RAID1, or mirroring, so let's focus on that.
Mirroring simply means that you have two drives, and they have exactly the same things
on them. When you save a document, it is saved on both hard drives. If the primary
drive fails, you switch to the other.
Mirroring has long been used in Internet servers. With it, a company doesn't have
to worry about its Web site going down if a drive fails. The secondary drive immediately
takes over. That could be helpful to you if you suffer drive failures.
However, I don't think RAID works well for backups. When you establish a backup routine,
you should back up your data day after day. That way, you can go back in time to
find uncorrupted data, if necessary.
Let me give you an example. Say you have an important database file. One day, the
file will not open. Something has happened, and the file is corrupted. The data in
that file is no longer available.
If you have a RAID mirror setup, the file on the backup drive will probably be in
exactly the same shape. Instead of being able to go to a backup from last week or
last month, which is presumably uncorrupted, you have only a current, corrupted file.
So, although mirroring has its benefits, they pertain more to commercial situations.
(Some computers, including my office machine, have RAID0, or striping. This divides
data between two hard drives, supposedly making read and write operations faster.
Again, I think the benefit is marginal on the desktop.)
You should have a backup routine for your data. At home, I copy my data to a second
hard drive; at work, to the server. You could combine your backup routine with an
imaging program, such as Norton Ghost.
An imaging program allows you to take a picture of the hard drive, which you can
use if your hard drive fails. But the image is static. So you need regular backups
as you change or add files.
I considered installing a RAID setup when I built my home computer two years ago.
I intended to use it for backups, but I decided RAID was inadequate. My advice is:
Don't bother.