Data backup solution

How to backup your data - read this guide for a simple solution

Do you backup your data? Do you backup your data frequently? What would you do if you lost your computer? Or it got destroyed in a fire? Or stolen? Or your child spilt a cup or orange juice over it and it failed to start? Or you got infected by such a nasty virus that half the files on your pc or network were destroyed?

Would this be more than a simple inconvenience and a claim to your insurance company? Or would you go into a blind panic knowing that your data backup solution is little ‘shaky’ at best?

The truth of the matter is, most people hate to think of such a scenario and put off sorting out some kind of data backup solution to tomorrow. We are not trying to ‘scare monger’ here – these things really do happen. But don’t panic because this simple guide will lead you step by step through a fail proof backing-up strategy.

1. First step is to decide what you need to back-up and when.

a. You will need to take a complete ‘snapshot’ of everything on your computer, including the Windows registry and all software programs, each time you come to install any new software – take the snapshot before you install the software, in case it causes a problem on your computer that you want to reverse, and then take another snapshot after the software has been installed, after you have had time to check that everything is working as it should. We’ll discuss how to do this below.

b. Next you need to back up your changing data files, such as new documents, contacts and emails, on a regular basis. Depends on how much work you do each day as to the time lapse that you think you can risk – most likely on a daily or weekly basis. This doesn’t actually have to be much effort on your part at all – again we’ll discuss how to do this below.

c. If you have any data that is particularly valuable and is unlikely to change, such as photos or legal documents, you should also consider archiving these to safe long term storage, maybe on a monthly basis.

2. Next you need to decide what media devices you are going to back up onto and which software you are going to use to do this. Here we discuss each of the three scenarios in turn.

Backup 1 - an exact image

For a complete snapshot of all your data, you are going to need quite a lot of memory storage for your back ups. Ideally, this should be storage that is not connected to your computer network in anyway, to ensure that it does not get infected by a network wide virus, and you should be able to transport the back-up to store safely at a different location, should the unimaginable happen and your premises get burnt to the ground (or similar). The easiest solution is to use an external hard drive for this purpose. There is a huge range available and they don’t cost very much at all now. Have a look at Micro Direct for a good deal on external hard drives.

You can buy them to plug into either a USB or Firewire port, and they are not very big, so can easily be carried to another premises for storage. Buy two so that you always have one on site for your next back-up, and one off site with your previous back-up, and then rotate the two each time you take your next snapshot. They often come with their own back-up software, which may be able to take a complete snapshot of your computer.

If your chosen external harddrive doesn’t include the required software, then buy some additional backup software to do this. Our software of choice is Acronis True Image. It allows you to create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning providing the most comprehensive data protection.

The disk backup file contains the exact copy of a hard disk, including all the computer data, operating system, and programs. After a system crash you can restore the entire system or simply replace lost files and folders from your disk backup. It has won awards from PCWorld, PC Magazine, PC Plus, PC Professional, ZDNet and others.

Click here to download a free trial version of Acronis True Image.

Backup 2 - frequently changing data files

To back-up your frequently changing data files, such as your Outlook email files and your work documents, the easiest solution is to use an online data back-up service. That way, you don’t have to worry about a thing. You just choose which folders you want backing up, and how many versions of back-ups that you want to keep, and then each time you connect to the internet, any changed data backs up automatically. After reviewing several online services, we suggest you use the Depositit back up service provider.

Depositit are very competitively priced, back-up to 3 different physical locations, just to make sure that they will never loose your data, and use 448 bit encryption (4 times higher than most internet banks), so no-one except you has ever the chance to read your data. Not only that, but they are really friendly and helpful, so you won’t have a problem with any support that you need – which has to be extremely important when you are in a panic because your laptop has been stolen and you want to restore your data files. It costs £120 + vat per annum for the standard 4Gb storage, which is approximately 500,000 A4 pages of text, or £60 + vat for the light user package of 500 Mb, which is about 62,000 pages of A4 text (you can upgrade from light user to standard user at any time and the additional charge will be calculated pro rata). To find out more about how the online backups work, click here for their pdf brochure.

Depositit were recently reviewed by 'Computing Which?' magazine and were chosen as their recommended online backup service, being the cheapest service available, with quick and easy registration, simple to select files for backup and easy to restore. They concluded that the ease of use and price make it the most suitable data backup solution.

Backup 3 - archiving valuable files

To archive your valuable files, such as photos, legal documents and cherished music, DVD is an ideal medium. DVDs store a lot more data than CDs and are apparently a little more endurable.

If you know that you are only going to need to write to a DVD once, then use DVD-R or DVD+R, which have a longevity period of up to 60 years if treated very carefully. If you are going to want to update your DVDs, say add some new photos to an existing album, then use rewritable DVD-RAM (up to 100,000 rewrites), which is more reliable than DVD ± RW (up to 1,000 rewrites), and has a scratch-resistant coating. Rewritable DVDs can last for up to 30 years if also treated very carefully.

You should back-up to two different discs that can be stored in different locations. Make sure to buy good quality dvd media, check your back-ups after writing to them to ensure that they read correctly, and store them in a cool place out of sunlight. You should also periodically check the disks to see that they are ok and are not being exposed to any elements that could damage them, and of course make sure to handle them with care.

To write (burn) your DVDs, you’ll need a DVD writer, that will most likely come with its own software. Have a look Micro Direct at for a good deal on dvd writers.

It is not advisable to use any data compression when it is to be stored for a long time, at the risk that you may not have the correct software to decompress it when you come to retrieve it. When burning the DVDs, ensure to use your backup software's data verification functionality to check that the data has been written correctly.

Another great way of backing up your photos is to use an online photo album service. Snapfish is the fastest growing online photo service, with nine million members and more than 250 million photos online. They have been rated the number one online photo service in surveys from PC Data and received top quality ratings from Popular Photography and Yahoo! Internet Life.

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