Control Panel
Backup & Restore
Best practice is to send a drive image everyday to a separate hard drive.

Lots of options there.. read some.

THANKS mikie....I will use a flash drive. But another question...is it possible to save e-mails from gmail account?

Since XP, Windows has included backup software. It's not always the most elegant solution but it works just fine.

As for backing up Gmail messages, you'd need to retrieve them with a POP client.

Do you really create so much data that you need to back up daily?

No doubt your personal data is stored in a sub directory of Documents (My Documents in XP) so why not simply save the Documents folder each day to your flash drive? The safest way of course is to have 2 flash drives and alternate, that way nothing can be lost as there is always one copy saved even while the latest data is being backed up.

Doing a drive image every day or even every week sounds excessive. There's no need to do a daily backup unless you're producing important files daily.

You only need to backup files you wouldn't want to lose when you have a PC or disk failure. When, not if, it will always happen. If the file doesn't matter to you, there's no need to back it up.

Think of things like photos, music, videos, correspondence, tax returns, records, etc. A flash drive may not be big enough for many people, and if so, external USB drives are cheap and available everywhere.

Sync Back is a free and easy to use back up program. It copies only new or changed files, so it operates very quickly. It can operate on a time schedule, but I recommend you NOT leave your backup device connected to the PC it is backing up, to avoid the risk of losing both your original and your copy in the case of a power surge.

Takes my laptop about 8 minutes to do the default back up documents/pics/etc & to image C drive here & seldom do I notice its actually doing it.. at 7pm each day.

And once, that image, actually saved me big headaches. It took maybe 20 minutes to refresh the whole C drive, back to yesterdays state.

I update my personal stuff every 2 or 3 months on an external hard drive. When I do some work with my music, photos or wallpaper I back it up right away. I also leave them on my PC so in a sense I have the backed up in 2 places.

I have never done daily backup I just don't have anything that important. I do backup, and if I happen to have something new and important I will do that. I have all my browser favorites on xmarks.com so they won't be lost and my email is all Web based.
I think having some good image backups is essential.
There's a few good free ones if you don't want to use the windows version, macrium, and to-do, are two.
Having the backup in several stored locations is also important.

Why not just make a hard copy of every document and put it in separate folders according to the category and then file that away in a cabinet or bookshelf?

ellie, the cheapest, easiest and most flexible format to use to backup a digital file is.... a second digital file.

mikey, you're probably hastening the drive's failure (they all do ultimately die) by making it chug unnecessarily every day through voluminous but seldom changing folders. So somewhat ironically, doing a daily disk image could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you want to calm your worry, you'd be much better served by making a second backup copy and keeping it "offsite". Somewhere that a loss or disaster event is unlikely to strike at the same time as where your first backup copy is kept. Personally, I wouldn't feel very secure if my only backup was sitting on a PC that was turned on and plugged in.

Dahlia: try WinDataReflector, this is a free program that can automate your backups (has a built in scheduler), you set source and destination folders and times (e.g.: every day at 5pm) and it does the rest...it also works over lan.

Guys/girls: she is asking for backup software recommendations, you are not being helpful..

Here is a link that might be useful: WinDataReflector Folder Backup and Synchronization

Ignore DavidS1 he is spamming and only joined Gardenweb yesterday

Yeah? how is this spamming exactly?

Well, according to WOT (Web Of Trust), the site DavidS1 linked to says:
"This site's rating has low confidence"...

...so I didn't open it. Does the site SELL anything, or is it a free fix?

DavidS1 anyone who joins a forum just to respond to one call for help has to be suspect. Go through the threads here and elsewhere and you will see this is a way to get unsuspecting folks to click on your link. Those clicks generate income and if the program is downloaded I believe the commission is much higher.

You ask how it is perceived as Spam yet you failed to offer anything to suggest you are not here as a Spammer.

You also noted in your original post that those who responded were not helpful as the OP needed back up software, he/she has that built right into Windows 7. No need for any third party software in my humble opinion.

Care to comment on Shaxhome's observation regarding the site rating on WOT?

Shaxhome: yes it is a free fix, re WOT's rating, this happens also if the website is new..i.e.: not enough ratings...I know the program IS new.

owbist: that's the answer that I know, if I find any other questions that I can answer, I will...

and no..this is not a commission link...hover over the link with your mouse, it is a direct link..it doesn't generate income in anyway..

or don't click the link..just google "WinDataReflector" or go to download.com or softpedia.com and search for it, it is legit...and those sites has the same link I posted (look for the developer's home page link)..

I didn't mean any offense by saying the others weren't helpful, just some of you answered a question with a question...she asks about a free program to backup her files and some guys answer "do you really need to back up your files?"

and yes the backup features of win7 are lacking at best...there is no automation and no comparison and the interface is vague...etc else why is there this long list of commercial back up software....just google "backup software"...and also a long list of free ones...like SyncBack..etc

anyway...sorry if I offended any of you guys...

good day.

I plainly stated in my reply the name of two well known and regularly used by members here, free image software programs, so how can you say no one offered that info?

Coming to an established help forum, for a first visit, and scolding the regular helpers for not being helpful is one heck of a way to introduce yourself, did you think that would be highly receptive?
Not to mention that the only post was to promote some little known product.
How did that work out for you?

Perhaps rethink your message and method if you expect better results.
Manners do matter!

raven: yes, true, my mistake, should have used different words, didn't mean to scold you or anything...sorry again to all you guys.

is there a way to delete my post(s)?

No way to delete posts or even edit here David sadly

Welcome to the Gardenweb forum, perhaps I misjudged you, humble apologies.

Thanks for the apologies and welcome as you can tell we are very protective here we have to be cautious about links provided by unknowns, would certainly be a bad thing to come here for help and instead click on a link that caused damage. When we have seen this behavior in the past as Owbist noted it has with out fail been a spammer, hence his warning to others, especially when it gives a wot warning.

I will be looking at the link you provided us perhaps it would be useful.

Thank you very much guys, you are very kind, pleasure being here.