Number 295 - December 2007

Backing Up In Windows Vista
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@comcast.net, Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Unless you spend all your computer time playing games or tracking the activities of Paris Hilton and her zany cohorts, you need to back up at least occasionally. Before getting into Vista specifics, let's go over some essentials about backing up data.    A file backup is a copy of an original file that is stored on your computer in a different location from the original file. By a different location we mean outside the computer, preferably in a different place like a separate building. For example, if your important data is on your home computer, your backups should be kept in your office, a friend's house or even in a safe-deposit box. Many people store multiple backups of files in order to keep track of revisions or other changes in the file. A friend of mine emails his encrypted backup files to a buddy in another country and does the same for his friend. That sounds like a sensible arrangement.    There is no better way to keep your data from being permanently lost through hardware or software failures, fire, theft, worms, viruses, and other assorted disasters than by backing up your information.    Back up anything that would be difficult or impossible to replace. Start by regularly backing up files that you change or revise frequently. Family pictures and videos, work projects, and financial records are the most common types of files that should be backed up and kept in a safe place if the originals are damaged or destroyed.    It isn't necessary to backup application programs like Word or Adobe Photoshop because you can use the original installation disks to restore the programs. The downside is that you will have to spend time customizing the programs to suit your needs or style of working. If the installation disks are lost or destroyed, you can always buy another up-to-date copy, but you can't go to a retailer to buy a copy of your data.    When you create a backup plan, one of the things you need to decide is how often you will back up. Those who keep their systems busy creating new files, need to back up at least weekly. When taking pictures and videos of vacations, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and other special events, back these files up immediately. The forgetful person can schedule automatic backups. If you don't, Windows has a built-in nag feature that will remind you to backup.    There are many different file types scattered throughout your system. Vista is designed to backup the most common types, but will not backup files that are encrypted using Encrypting File	System (EFS). Vista backup will ignore files that Vista needs to operate, commonly known as system files. It also won't backup files in the Recycle Bin, temporary files, user profiles, program files, and anything that resides on a disk using the FAT file system. (You shouldn't be using that anyway).    After doing a backup for the first time, Vista will keep track of anything that you change or add since the previous backup. Updating the existing backup is all that's necessary, and that saves a lot of disk space.    There are limitations concerning backup locations. You can't backup to a tape drive, and you can't backup any data to the same disk. For example, you can't backup files on your C: drive to the C: drive. You must specify a different location.    Don't even think about backing up to a flash memory drive, and you can't use a CD-ROM. You have to use a CD burner, aka CD-R or CD-RW drive. If you don't know what you have, test the drive by copying some files to it.    Be sure that your backup drive is formatted using the NTFS file system, otherwise you will run into trouble. If you're using a DVD as your backup drive, you will need to be present to change disks if necessary. If you run out of disks, there is a provision to continue at a later time.    You can go on to use your system while backing up, but don't expect stellar performance. You will notice slowdowns if your work strains the CPU or the graphics card. If performance is an issue, either schedule the backup for another time or don't do anything more demanding than reading emails and surfing the internet.    You can find the backup tools in the System Tools sub folder of the Accessories folder. Once you've located the folder, open it, click on the backup tool, read the dialog box, and follow directions. You'll be glad you did.    Copyright 2007. This article is from the September 2007 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 295 - December 2007