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I had already decided on a WD Caviar...hadn't quite decided how big, though. I currently have the 80Gig WD Caviar and it's running great...very quiet. Those 16MB caches look nice, too. I was gonna at least get a 120Gig...I think that it would be plenty for my back ups and for pixes but I may be fooling myself as to just how fast I will fill up the hdd with pixes of my daughter & Granddaughter...so I might as well just do it right and get a 250Gig.
Thanks for the links and for re-inforcing my choice.!!
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UK man's laptop stolen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6263827.stm
The good news is that he got it back today, it was returned by Taxi.
Another story that shows how easy it is to loose your irreplaceable photos.
So get them backed up, you'll never be able to take them again.
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I know what it feels like to lose some irreplaceable pictures. Back in the 1980's, when my two kids were very young, I had a 35MM SLR...took lots of pictures but times were very lean and there were a lot of rolls of film that I just wasn't able to afford to get developed. Years later I got around to getting some of them developed and some came out alright but some didn't make it...I lost many years of memories...that hurt.
Digital photography is fantastic...both still & video.!! I can now instantly "develop" pictures...color correct them...crop...etc...and then save to cd's or dvd's or to hdd....wow!! what a terrific invention. And, of course, now I can print any pictures at any time...which I need to start doing more of and put in photo albums...which will last many, many years...that way even if all of the electronic forms of storage were to somehow go bad, there would still be hard copies ( printed photos).
Yes...back ups have a wide variety of applications....I hope that I can keep that sense of "urgency" an ongoing attitude.
I hope that this thread helps to instill that same sense of 'urgency' in others as well.
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This has been a very enlightening thread. I thank Limerick for starting it and all who have posted. However, as I am very limited in my knowledge of computers, I have really not been able to follow everything completely. I have realized that I am due for a hard drive crash since I have not had one in the several years that I have been using computers. I have several different machines set up here at home. (I have 5 children. Four have their own computer, my wife has one, and I have one. Therefore, I have six different setups) All of them are different configurations and capabilities. Three have XP and three have ME. All have their own driver and program needs. I hope to someday have an in-home network to maintain them all from my office, but at this time they are all stand alone as I have not been able to figure that project out yet. Mine is the one shown below with two 40GB hard drives. (my second drive is one salvaged from another trashed machine) I would like to be able to backup all of them, but perhaps the real need is only on the two listed below. I have been considering a new harddrive, but budget restrictions limit my options. I was pleased to note in one of the posts that there was mention of a 100GB for $30 after rebate. If possible I would like to have as many of you as would like to state as simply as possible the steps necessary for a novice like myself and any others reading this thread to set up a complete backup arrangment. Keep in mind that anything that is too "technical" may not be understood! Start to finish. How much free space do I need? What will be included in the "image"? Can I use the "image" to place everything including OS and all needed files onto a new harddrive? If so, what about the size difference between the two drives. (going either way-I don't want to go smaller, but I may use a salvage drive that is smaller as a temporary measure.) And any other questions that you might suggest answers for before we have them. Thank you again to all of you who devote much time and effort to rescuing the ignorant and the unwary!!
**I realize that much of the needed info is already in the thread, but it is difficult for me (and perhaps others) to filter out the particular parts needed and in the correct order. A simple step by step would be greatly appreciated**
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**I realize that much of the needed info is already in the thread, but it is difficult for me (and perhaps others) to filter out the particular parts needed and in the correct order. A simple step by step would be greatly appreciated**
I may have answered many of my own questions by further surfing of VDr.
This thread was very helpful to me....
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=175784
This one also had useful information....
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=215395
NOTE: this thread contains links provided by Train in the second post which correspond to the link above for discussion 175784 as well as this thread which we are in now.
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Jonny...I know what you mean about how confusing it all can get...me too..:confused:
I noticed that you have a CD and a DVD burner for your listed computers...that's good. I need to ask a question: have you taken any of your pictures and burned them to a cd or dvd? That is a quick & easy way to store & back up your irreplaceable pictures. That is what I am doing...it's easy to do.
Your o/s's already have a back up itility that can be used...but I'm not very familiar with just how effective it is and whether or not you can use that utility to back up to dvd's or cd's...:o others here can clarify that for you...but I would suggest that you take a look at those utilities on your system and see what it says.
I believe that having a 2nd hdd for back up purposes only is about the simplest way to go. You would need a 2nd hdd for each computer that you want to back up. Thankfully, hdd's are not that expensive and depending upon your budget( you have 5 children...your budget is probably tighter than a tick on a hound dog..:eek: ), you can pick up some good hdd's..like the one that you mentioned...without breaking the bank.
I would recommend starting out easy...practice burning some pictures or other data to a cd and then be able to put that data back onto or into a folder...get familiar with that process ( and if you are already familiar with that process, then good!!) Backing up complete hdd's is about the same process...it just takes some practice...which I, myself, need more of!!
So...join the back up crowd here....hopefully we'll all become proficient at back up & recovery ( in practice only, hopefully!!:D )
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Home Networking Made Simple(r)
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...management.htm
stevejr gave good advice. That is the way I started. Fact is, most of us did because we got tired of losing data.
a 100 GB hdd would be more than adequate for your rig, but when you talk about 6 of them, you just might want to reconcider. All to one hdd, or 3 to one, or one backup drive per. That is your call.
A point, each person will concider different things to be what they concider as "Hate To Lose" data.
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Train...that's a very informative site...it's now in my favorite's list.
I know next to nothing about networking so do I understand correctly from your statement that a single hdd can be written to from different computers? So how would the hdd be configured...partitions for each hdd?
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Yes, if set up right, you can put about anything on a hdd from another computer.
Fact is that basic principal is how we post these threads. Or I upload a picture to a server so I can link it into a post. Just a case of permissions and setting up the network correctly.
Whether it be lan or wan.
You can Setup the hdd on your lan however you wish it to be.
Now my 98SE rig, unless you have the correct passwords, you can not access any XP rigs. But this rig can admin any connected to the lan.
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Here's my story as we're sharing: I needed to purchase a new DVD-Writer to sort my backups, i've got 3 hard drives in this rig, and most of my data remained on a 250gb Hitachi, so i ordered the new drive on tuesday, it came wednesday, and i picked up 25 x DVD-R's (Verbs) and the drive was an Asus lightscribe which came with 2 lightscribe discs, one DVD-R and one CD-R, and a nice leather cd wallet.
Anyhoo, i got it installed wednesday morning, started doing my backups, got 2 out of 6 discs done and while burning the 3rd i got a BSOD - Machine_Check_Exception, so i was a bit ticked off to say the least, one coaster out of the first three, but it was software error not hardware to i didn't punish the drive, i thought it was the 250gb hitachi that was the problem, and continued to copy the data over to my primary 200gb Maxtor, and it blue screened again, so i rebooted, started copying over data in small chunks, and eventually i was left with an empty hitachi drive which was making grumbling noises, so i formatted it, and shutdown and unplugged the bugger, i then went back into Nero and got my backups done in about 40mins, all i can say is phew! it's all done, and the relief is nice, i really thought i was gonna have the worst luck and have a drive die during the backup process.:rolleyes: Alls well that ends well. :)
Now, i haven't used imaging software, and am looking into Acronis, can anyone sum it up to an imaging n00b? Pretty please? :)
Liam
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Liam, it is my intention to try to help you with the Acronis imaging software. I have used it many times and I still stick by it. Others can describe it far better than I and so I refer you to: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=65 for the Acronis discussion forums with the hope it will help further.
In our forum, you may choose to re-read posts numbered 47/8, 52, 5/4, 56/8 and #68 for some possible pointers.
XXCopy works wonders also but I can't remember much about it---used too long ago.
I hope this response is helpful to you because you have helped me plenty of times in the past. (If your Hitachi did go belly up on ya then you are one very lucky person to have made the "save" in time.)
Oh, if you use Acronis, I can't impress enough the necessity of registering your software so that you can immediately update it's build and/or save the update for another time. Once Acronis takes them down, you can't get to them anymore.
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Thanks for the link buf, i've not even checked their website yet for versions, and features, and pricing, but i sure will be, i was indeed very lucky, and now that i have the data side of things sorted i was thinking that if the Hitachi was my primary and it was giving me the same problems i would have to spend ages installing XP, updates, and programs once i had a new drive sorted, and i gather that i can take a "snapshot" of the OS from this drive, back it up to DVD, and if i run into problems and have to re-format, or move to a new drive, then i can just load the image....here's hoping it's that easy anyhoo.:)
Liam
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Hi liam858,
If you go to Acronis, suggest you open an account with them. Two advantages: you can deal with them directly instead of dealing with their dealers (I had problem with a dealer, after buying about three Acronis products, complained to Acronis, who promptly opened an account for me). Secondly when you look up your account you will find info on every product you registered, including codes.
I have been an Acronis True Image user versions 6 to 10.
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That is an interesting post x71s8zTN. I wonder what additional info your account shows vs. what is shown when you access updates for your registered software.
I also started using ver 6 when I first read about Acronis.
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Hi buf,
The screen shows:
Software title, version and registration date
Software key
Latest available update
Full history of changes
Direct download link for a full version if you lost your copy.
Other useful links for information and support
I am not sure that this is different than what you would get from an update link. I opened the account initially because I did not want to deal with their dealers.
