Most important things to backup from computer?

lydia1959

14 years ago

I've got a pesky viral thing (contained for now) on my PC. I'm afraid I may lose everything though in the attempt to remove it. The computer guy will be here in 3 hours. He worked on it yesterday for an hour, but didn't resolve the problem.

I've put some pictures and a few documents on a website called myotherdrive.com, I also put my bookmarks there (I hope it worked anyhow, I saved them in html) and I tried to put my address book there, but ended up just writing the email addresses down (thankfully... my address book is pretty short).

What am I forgetting?

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Comments (10)

joann23456
14 years ago
All I can think of is financial data (like from Quicken or another program)
lydia1959
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. I have no financial data on my computer, so I didn't need to do that.

The computer survived the fix. Yay! Time to start thinking about a new computer though, we've had this one about 6 years.
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Continuous, instantaneous backups is massive overkill. What you're saying is that your saved files are so special, your (personal) memory and your time are both so very limited, and the risk of a PC failure any minute of the day is so imminent, that anything other than immediate backups puts you in jeopardy. To that, I say, nope. Very unlikely to be the case, I don't care who you are or what you do. And doing so can foster an unwarranted paranoia. And you realize that by keeping your one backup copy continuously connected to your PC, you risk losing what's on your PC AND your backup if there's a power surge or a hiccup in the PC's power supply. Not a good practice no matter how you look at it. You needn't use Windows backup, or what came with the drive, if these don't do what you prefer. There are lots of free backup programs that should be more useful to use. Many apps (like Excel or Word) will do save backup copies every few minutes. Isn't that enough? Once a day is overkill for most people, every few days or week should suffice for most, but so be it. For the occasional something special when your backup is between cycles, attach it to an email and save it as a draft. Or put it on a thumb drive and then remove it from the PC. Done.
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cynic
14 years ago
This is a good question for people to consider. What would you miss from your computer if it were to disappear tomorrow?

Documents, templates, photos and the like are the popular things. Financial data, things scanned in, address books, and such are possibly important too.

I like to back up the profiles for my browsers since I've customized them.

Virtally any program that has a data file could be important. Recipes? Passwords? Login names and sites?

Here's a good way to get an idea of what you should back up. Keep track for a couple weeks of the programs you use and if there's data in them to back up. Make a checklist. Back it up now and do it regularly. If nothing else, back up at daylight saving time change. Or monthly or weekly or daily or hourly depending on how important the data is to you.

One caution for you though, if you had viruses or malware attached to your backups, it could reinfect your computer if you bring it back so be careful.

Also, do you really need a new computer? Many people get caught up with the keeping up with the Jones' syndrome when their current computer serves their needs just fine.
lydia1959
Original Author
14 years ago
Also, do you really need a new computer? I do according to the computer repair guy and the Centurytel Tech (who was here a month ago for a different problem).

The computer does have some 'issues' with random shutdowns, losing internet service for days at a time, general slowness. I can probably get a couple more years out of it if I treat it nice. :-)

I don't have a problem with 'old' computers though... I have a Gateway Solo 3300 that has Windows 2000 on it. Works great for music and as a emergency PC.

BTW - good tips in your post Cynic. Thanks.
pammyfay
14 years ago
You should consider getting one of those small external hard drives--they just plug into your computer, you hit a button, and EVERYTHING gets backed up. You don't have to think about what's on your computer and pick and choose. If you go this route (actually, even if you use the online site again), do that backup every month or so.
okwriter
14 years ago
If you've had it for six years, you deserve a new one, Miss Lydia! :-)
country_bumpkin_al
14 years ago
A month or so ago, I got a virus on my laptop (that Vista Antivirus 2010 demon). It was horrible! My son worked on my compter and I thought I was good to go! Nope...it came right back. He removed it again..and it came right back. I was prepared to haul it in to the big guy techs, when a friend mentioned I download this. I sure didn't have anything to lose, so we downloaded and ran it...and I was amazed at the "bad stuff" it found. My computer has been running fine ever since....and I didn't lose anything at all. Still have all my pictures,etc.

Here's a link. It sure wouldn't hurt to try!

Here is a link that might be useful: SuperAntiSpyWare
lydia1959
Original Author
14 years ago
Bumpkin - SuperAntiSpyWare was the software that the tech used! He also recommended Avira (sp) anti virus (I use Avast now...Avast did catch the virus and it did contain it).
minnie_tx
14 years ago
A While back I got one of those ClickFree backup things from
QVC (4 easy payments) it is a very small device you plug it in and it copies everything
on your computer and you can also set it for periodic backups. You can take it with you to plug into a
new computer and even backup
sevral computers you might have in the house.

Pretty neat and worth investigating
Jasdip
14 years ago
SuperAntiSpyware is my regular anti-spyware. Just did a scan this morning. I think it's one of the best out there.

Most important things to backup from computer?

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joann23456

lydia1959
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Most important things to backup from computer?

Comments (10)

joann23456

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lydia1959
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