Our computers have a lot more information stored on them than we think. Imagine if all of your e-mail, documents, powerpoint files, bookmarks, etc. were gone in a blink of an eye. That’s how fast a hard drive could fail. Other than practicing proper computer maintenance, backing up your data is another way to ensure you won’t be totally lost if you suffer a hard drive failure. This document will give you some basic backup instructions and ideas, and different methods will be more appropriate for some of you than others.

The most common areas where your important data is stored is in the My Documents folder. This can be found on Windows XP machines in the C:\Documents and Settings\”the User Profile (your login name)”\My Documents. On Windows 98 machines, this folder should be located in the C:\My Documents. And if we still have WordPerfect users, you probably have most of your documents in the Wpdocs folder or something similar. If you did some good file management, you may also have a number of folders that you created on the C:\ drive that you would also want to back up. It would also be a good idea to back up your Favorites folder as well, and this folder should be in the same location as the My Documents folder. This is where all of your Internet Explorer bookmarks are saved. If you are still using Netscape, you should do a Search for the bookmark.htm file, and then you will know where that is located. Different versions of Netscape store the bookmark file in many different locations that is difficult to explain. Another important item we should back up is your e-mail folder. Pegasus or Winpmail users can just select their whole C:\Winpmail or C:\Pmail folder and back it up. If you are using Outlook or some other program, you may need to export your e-mail to another file name and then back up that file. Also, if there are any other folders that you have saved data in, select those to be backed up as well. Once you have the data you would like backed up selected, you will also want to be aware of how large these files are. The size of the data will help determine what method of backing up will work best for you. The burning software should give you a total at the bottom of the window, or you can copy all of the files and folders into a single folder and just right-click on it and go to Properties. There it will give you the size of that whole folder. As a general rule, back up whatever data you cannot afford to lose. Do not back up unnecessary items such as whole programs, they can be re-installed and would only waste your precious back up space that could have been used for that extra grant or research paper.

How Often Should I Back Up?

This can vary greatly from person to person, especially if you change many files throughout the day, or if you are in a situation where it would be difficult to redo the lost data. Situations that should be taken into account include grant work, research, current databases, and other daily work you wouldn't want to lose. Ideally, you would back up every time you change your documents, however depending on your available time and the type of backup you use, this usually isn't reasonable. However, do back up often enough to ensure you won't be starting from scratch if your computer dies. Depending on the amount of work you've done this could be daily, every other day, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our Helpdesk at 231-9666 or accs@ndsuext.nodak.edu.

One of the easiest and most reliable methods of back up is using the cdr\cdrw drives most of us have on our computers. This will require the software program that came installed on your computer. Some popular programs are: EZCD Creator or Roxio, Nero, and Sonic. And if you have Windows XP, you can also use the built-in support that works with most cdr\cdrw drives. I won’t go into detail on how to use each program, but all of these programs use a similar File Manager format that lets you pick and choose what files and folders you would like to burn or copy to a cd. Windows XP’s built-in support is also simple to use. All you need to do is select the file or files you would like to back up, right-click on them and select Send to, and choose your cdr \cdrw drive from the list. Once you have all the files there, double-click on My Computer and click on your cdr\cdrw drive and select Write these files to CD. A cd can a good backup for years, depending on how it’s stored and\or handled. The largest blank cds can store about 700mb, but even if you had to use more than one, the cost if very minimal.

Another way of backing up data that is becoming more popular all of the time is the use of USB flash drives or pen drives. These small drives are fairly durable, are resistant to magnetic corruption, and currently come in sizes up to 2 gigabytes. These may not be a good choice for some users, as they may have a large number of images that would be larger than the USB drive could support. The cost of these USB drives is dropping a more and more every day and are under $100 for the 1gb sizes. These drives will also work on Windows 98 computers once the proper drivers are installed.

External hard drives and Zip drives are also another method for backing up data. Most external hard drives are USB or Firewire and come in sizes similar to an internal hard drives found in a desktop computer. External drives can have the same problems as your computer’s hard drive, and suffer hardware failure. Zip drives come in sizes up to 750mb, but are very similar to floppy disks, and can become easily damaged. Both of these types of drives are available for various prices, depending on size and interface options.

Some of you may also have tape drives installed in your computer. These tapes are an excellent source for backing up your data. These tapes also come in a variety of sizes, with some older drives having 4\8 gb of capacity, and newer ones capable of 80 gb plus. One drawback is the cost of this type of backup, since you should try to have a minimum of 3 tapes that you can rotate when backing up. The tape should have its own backup software that came with the drive, and they are generally easy to configure and setup a schedule for the backup. Another thing to remember about tape backups, is that they can be finicky if you need to replace the tape drive that was used to create the backup. They usually require an identical drive or something very similar, which could be hard to find after a few years. The cost of these tape drives also varies largely, with many starting at about $200. The tapes themselves also vary in cost relative to their capacity.

One other form of backing up I want to touch on is the 3.5 inch floppy. I know many people who have their only backups on this scary little piece of magnetic plastic. The floppy is very handy because of its size and that most computers have this drive already installed. Unfortunately, many new computers are being built without floppy drives and they need to be specially ordered. Floppy disks are very susceptible to damage and also to any type of magnetic source. They can also be unreliable. Some may last for years, but you can also have a new one not work right out of the box. Also, floppy disks are becoming unusable just because of their lack of storage capacity. The standard floppy disk can hold a maximum of 1.44 mb, when compared to a blank cd that has over 400 times more capacity, it’s easy to see what type of media would be a better choice for the amount of data we have on our computers these days.

These are just a few of the more common ways of backing up data, and there are others out there. Some of you may be connected to a server that has regular scheduled backup system, or you may have another hard disk where you can back up your data to. Feel free to contact our Helpdesk at 231-9666 or at accs@ndsuext.nodak.edu for more information.