COMPUTER BACKUP

[jerryhillman]

I have seen the advertisement for online computer backup systems
for a fee. It occurred to me why couldn't I do a backup on my entire
computer to an external hard drive. Is there software available that
would enable me to back up my computer created to a folder that I
put on my enternal hard driver? How does a program like carbonite
restore a computer to its condition before a failure occurred.
Is the operating system and all installed programs and files re-installed.
Is there a program that I could use to do the same thing that carbonite
does from an external hard drive to the computer?

Jerry

[Waldos]

You can probe Norton Gosth 15.0 is the leader in backup & restore: http://www.symantec.com/norton/ghost

If you only want a daily backup you can use Cobian Backup 10: http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

These programs are the both that i used in my work.

Saludos!

[Train]

Software, yes there is. And if Win 7 is your OS, the option is native to it.

Fact is my Seagate 1.5 TB USB hdd has a program, but I have never used it.

[jdc2000]

To backup your Windows and software installation, or any disk partition:
Acronis True Image Home 2010
http://www.acronis.com

This can save a reinstall if you experience a disk failure or malware catastrophe.

To backup data files:
Free SyncToy from Microsoft. Or just copy the files to another storage device or media.

You should have some off-site backups in case of a real disaster, like fire or flood.

[Ridgerunr]

As Train said. If you have a Seagate hard drive of any kind installed,you have the option of getting Seatools from their website. The seatool backup program is Acronis true image and it's free...

[jerryhillman]

"The seatool backup program is Acronis true image and it's free..."
Will this work on Win XP Home. How do you use it.

Jerry

[jdc2000]

Yes, it will work with XP home. You can either install it, or boot from the CD which is what I do.

[HAN]

IMO, online backup should be plan B. It brings a layer of frustration/complexity to restorations if online access is limited or not available.

Plan A should be to something like an external hard drive or DVDs. Obviously, multiple backups are a good idea (in case any given backup may not be perfect) and at least 1 set of backups should be stored away from the PC.

[dneilson]

Seatools is not the backup program, it's the diagnostics. The backup program is Seagate Disk Wizard. It is free and as long as one drive is either Maxtor or Seagate it works and works great. I've used it for ages. It is VERY easy to use. Open the program and choose Image Backup then select the defaults as you go through a few steps--that's it--you'll have your backup. When you have your backup there is an option to Validate, I always do this. Can you imagine needing the backup and finding it's corrupt!

[jerryhillman]

"The backup program is Seagate Disk Wizard"
I use maxtor hard drives. Where can I download the program.

Does this make a copy of the entire hard drive and can be used
to restore a system to its state before a failure?
Thanks, Jerry

[Midknyte]

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD

Paragon backup express is also free. Link has been in my signature for a LONG time.

Note that the Seagate version of Acronis does NOT support Win7.

[dneilson]

Not sure where you got your information--but--Seagate Disk Wizard DOES work with Windows 7. I have Windows 7 32 bit on my desktop & Windows 7 64 bit on my Laptop and have made many backups and continue to do so.

[Midknyte]

I got my information from Seagate. Unless they changed the version very recently, it doesn't officially work on Win7. Last time I checked, Seagate DiscWiz was only Acronis TI9.

http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf
1.3.2 Supported operating systems
• Windows® 2000 Professional SP 4
• Windows® XP SP 2
• Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition
• Windows® Vista

[dneilson]

I don't know anything about officially or unofficially, I can only tell you that I've been using it as I described above and have never had one problem.

[tellian]

I use Acronis to backup entire C: partition on DVD. For D: i use an external hdd.