I hate reformatting- it's such a hassle. It takes no time but backing up stuff is a PITA! Any tips???

[zippy]

I wish backing stuff up was easier than dragging and dropping to my second hard drive that I'm not formatting! I could get a tape drive but they're so slow! Sure I could do RAID1, but I don't want to waste $90 on a quarterly hassle.

Oh well, some of this stuff on my machine has really got to go because it's getting messy and bogging down- the easiest way to remedy that is a format. Oh well. :frown:

I always get worried formatting too- heh, usually I back stuff up then I format the NEXT day so it gives me a day to remember anything I may have forgotten.

Anyone have any tips besides a tape drive or RAID1? Also, norton ghost is a no-go because I don't want a back up of my whole system- just the stuff I need.

Thanks!

By the way, I'm kinda lucky this time because my last format was in early september so I still have most of that stuff still on my second hard drive from my back up then.

 

[nippyjun]

I find that the best thing to do is not to save any data on your system. I use a zip or cdr or cdrw to save my data. That way when I reformat I just have to reinstall the programs. I also back up my savegames on the zip before the formatting.

 

[Ulysses]

I backup my data to a hard drive that is left disconnected from the PC between backups. I use the free drive installation program that came with one of the drives for this purpose and run the program in the off hours. As you can imagine, you have to be careful to correctly identify the partitions you're working with to avoid wiping out the writing over the wrong stuff!

I'm about to set up a RAID 0, and plan to use a similar technique in lieu of a mirrored RAID. Or I may use Ghost - have to see.

 

[Cirruslvr]

I'm not sure if this will help answer your question, but what I have done is install my OS and Office on one partition and games, email program, and most other programs on a separate partition. This way when I format I still have to install programs, but the settings are usually already there and its like I didn't reformat. For example, I use Netscape for email and have that stored on a d:. When I format c:, I reinstall netscape, but to the same directory it was on d: and the settings and email are already there, no copying data or losing anything. Even though I have to reinstall practically all programs I don't feel like I'm going to accidently delete something important because it is on a separate partition. And by doing it this way, formats are easier and can be done more often.

 

[zippy]

Cirruslvr, DUH! OMG, I can't believe I forgot about that! I did that for my friend's machine and I forgot it for myself...LOL! Thanks!

 

[Noriaki]

Not sure if this will be what you want but I had the same problem and this is what I've decided on.

I have a windows install partition, an apps partion, a games partiton and a files partiton (well the Games and Files are spread on 4 14GB partition but you get the idea...)

I do a fresh install of windows and install all of my little bits and pieces, but I don't install any apps at all on my windows partition, and any files and downloads I want to keep also stay off that partition.
After a full install after I have all my games and apps I Ghost the main windows parititon (well I use Drive Image but it's the same thing). After that if I need a format I restore that Windows partition, and leave all the other partitions alone. I don't lose any files because they are on F:, G:, H: or I: all my apps are on E:, so I just restore C: and it's like a fresh install. But it takes like an hour or less (never really watched it) and no interaction from you, and then your system is all fresh and spiffy.
I jsut do this restore every other month or so and my system always runs like a fresh install.

Oh yeah..also RAID1 is for data integrity incase a hard drive fails....it's not a backup in the same sense that a tape drive is.

 

[chuckieland]

http://www.ping.be/satcp/ghostresq01.shtml

make your own recouvery cd man

 

[Bleep]

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[Soccerman]

my advice? don't let anyone else use your computer. there's ALOT less to remember that way...

second, make backup CDRWs of all the programs that you download (netscape, Winamp, game patches MP3's, Skins etc).

what I do, is I always make a Downloaded Files folder in the program files directory, and I save all the stuff that I think I'll need backed up into there, rather then my documents etc..

then it's ideal to have a few CDRW discs, so that you can have alot more then 600megs backed up. what i like to do, is make one every time the Downloaded files directory is about 600 megs, and I include my e-mail address book (export is easy in netscape), my icq stuff, and my bookmark file (netscape rocks!), and whatever other documents that I want to keep that are saved in my My Documents directory (all text files are in there).

that way it is pretty easy. drag and drop Downloaded Files directory, Drag and drop My Documents, and then Drag and drop ICQ contact list files, and Netscape stuff.

then every so often, I go through all my CDRWs, and get all the useful programs (latest driver files, latest version of Netscape, latest version of winamp, latest ICQ contact list, patches etc etc) and put them on 1 or so CDRWs (all the important stuff stays in other words, all old useless old stuff goes away), and clean the CDRWs for newer files that I accumulate.

also, it's nice to have a program like Ghost around. that way, you can just restore your basic stuff (windows, most of your programs etc), and then install the stuff you want that's on CDRW.

that way the reinstallation goes alot quicker. of course, you have to update your ghost image that's on CD every so often too.