Best way to backup 40gb hard drive
 

I'm paranoid that one day soon my 3 year old 40gb hdd is going to die. So I'd like to be proactive and find a fast reliable backup method to backup everything including windows, setup files, etc onto.

What would everyone recommend? A USB tape drive? Secondary HDD? CDR? Portable USB hard drive?

What do you currently use?

Any advice would be appreciated and will help me sleep better at night!

Thanks

second HDD above all, it's fast, it's cheap, and it's relatively reliable.

What's the easiest way to copy all the system files over to another HDD... xcopy I'd guess, but I'm not sure.

that, i don't know. windows is somewhat mysterious to me. i *think* there's a HD->HD backup option in the MS Backup software.. but i could be mistaken.

i could tell ya how to do it in Linux or somethin. :) there's a one-CD linux distribution floating around on the 'net somewhere, which doesn't require hard drive space at all, doesn't need to be installed, etc. if you had that you could copy everything over with a simple command:

dd if=/dev/hda1 of=/dev/hdb1

however, that option kinda sucks in that you should probably be somewhat comfortable with linux.

maybe someone else here can recommend drive-copying software for windows.

xcopy lol

in which timeframe are you living (windows 3.11 or windows 95) lol

use ghost from symantec, it will recover everything.

xcopy will not work.

A second HDD is fast and reliable, but will not help you if your computer gets stolen, or your house burns down.

I have a Seagate Travan, with 2 sets of 4x20 GB tapes - A and B. It does an incrememntal backup overnight, and every week, I change the tape set, and put the other in the car.

I have a USB one, so I can use it on my laptop if I need to (another plus over a second HDD). But an internal one is faster.

So far, I have not had to restore - but I am paranoid like you. With backups, I think this is a GOOD thing to be.


:thumbsup

I backup my 55 gigs site every week ( file sync) onto a USB 2.0 enclosure with a 100gig 7200 rpm hard drive. It is 40 times faster than USB 1.0 or 1.1 . You can add a USB 2.0 pci card for about $ 20.00.

Much cheaper on the medium and long term run. Also, the fact that it is portable allows you to store it in a different and safe location.

My :2 cents:

format c: :thumbsup

But you can easily copy it all over then pop the HDD out of the machine and store it somewhere outside of your house. Examples: in the car, in a strongbox in the garden shed, around a nearby trustworthy relative or friend's house, locked in a safety deposit box, the list is endless.


Its only my opinion though. Personally I just couldn't be bothered with all those tapes when you can just make a copy of your HDD direct to another one.

Agree that its a good idea to be paranoid in this area.

I bought a 160GB USB, and it works great for backups. I don't backup the whole HD, just work stuff.

I also to burn a backup CD every week or so which I store offsite in case my place gets burglarized or burns down.

if you get a Maxtor drive, it will come with Max-Blast.. Just slave the new drive off of the old one, or do a secondary ide with it.. even if temporary...
Max-Blast will partition it to your specs, format it, then copy your old drive to it.. works like a champ..

Other drives may have the same type deal, but that's one that I'm familiar with..

Thanks for your input people :)

I use a second hard drive and nortons ghost seems to work well for me. Just make a bootable floppy and put nortons ghost one it. boot from the floppy and run ghost. You can run it from windows but it is much faster when you boot from a floppy. In 5 years I have never had a computer stolen, burned or anything else like that but I have had hd failure 3 times

Nbritte

see Hansm post

I posted after you. Your right ghost is the tool

raid with a second hard drive. easiest way to do things