Manual or auto backup?

[Bootsie]

I just bought a Seagate 500GB external hard drive today; I would like to know the best way to use it.

Do you manually backup your files, or do you use automatic software?

I only have a 120GB internal hard drive, and I would like to free that up, so I would like to use the external hard drive for backup, and also just to get files off of my computer completely.

I would like software that will auto backup once a week, and adds files that are not already on it (new pictures) and files that have been changed.

I just need to simple solution to backup documents, music, and mostly pictures. I will also be using DVDs to back things up.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[nadtz]

For simple,

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

http://www.pchell.com/support/synctoy.shtml

[Bootsie]

So, I would want to use the "contribute" function of synctoy for what I want to do. Right?

[badams]

I do it manually about once a month. I have 1 backup hard drive in the computer and another external backup that I take with me whenever I go out of town, whether it be for photography or for fun.

[Bootsie]

Please anyone?

Am I correct in thinking that the contribute fruntion of synctoy would work for what I want?

[Bootsie]

Anyone using synctoy that could clarify this for me?

[ChasP505]

I do it manually about once a month. I have 1 backup hard drive in the computer and another external backup that I take with me whenever I go out of town, whether it be for photography or for fun.

I pretty much do the same thing. I have a 200gb main drive, a 320 data drive and 2 external 500gb drives. I alternate my backups between the 2 externals. If one fails, the other is still recent. If the main hard drive fails, no data lost. When an external drive gets beyond 70% full, I'll retire it as an archive.

I used to use Acronis for automatic backups, but it was no faster than doing it manually.

[Sp00ks]

I have the Seagate drive with software. I prefer to move the files manually.

[rklepper]

I have 2 750 GB drives for back up. One stays at work and the other at home. I change them on Fridays. I do a complete backup each Friday and incremental daily.

[BearLeeAlive]

I use 2 mirrored backups for all my files, photos included and daily back up to them incrementally automatically using the backup software that came with Vista. Why not do it daily, with automatic backup it takes no effort at all. I do a weekly manual backup to a drive I keep in my vehicle.

[ChasP505]

For simple,

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

http://www.pchell.com/support/synctoy.shtml

I just downloaded and tried this PowerToy. I thought I knew all the the MS PowerToys, but I guess I overlooked this one. It's great! Backed up a huge folder of image files to one of my USB external drives faster than anything I've ever used before.

I added some new files then ran SyncToy again. It scanned the source and destination drives and updated the most recently added files in about one minute or less. I'll be using SyncToy from now on.

Thanks nadtz!

[Trik]

As back up is a vexing subject for me at the moment, I read this thread with great interest, hoping that there would be much more input.

I have, for many years, used tapes for backing up, but the Travan technology which I have is old now, and the drives do not seem to last more than 18 months. My latest one is now on the blink and I am thinking about using an external harddrive in future. There are so many to chose from, I am at a loss as to which one would be the most reliable and long-lasting. As to software, I have searched and was particularly impressed with Genie-soft`s Backup Manager Pro v.8. It has received good reviews, which may interest Bootsie.

Bootsie : I have always used scheduled backups, timing them for when I know I won`t want to use the computer, so software that allows scheduling is a "must" for me. I use a Differential for most days, with two Full backups for different data once a week. I cannot over-stress how important I think backing up precious files and photos regularly is. Once I accidentally deleted the entire contents of My Documents folder - while I was holding down the Shift key! I nearly fainted with the shock when I realised what I had done. Then I remembered that I had it all on tapes, so was able to restore them. Since then, not only do I use the tapes, but I also burn our photos to DVD - just in case.

Trik

[blonde]

i use Synctoy and have it setup to do automatic backup (i use the contribute function) every Sunday at 5am. i think that Synctoy works perfect..

[kevin_c]

Please anyone?

Am I correct in thinking that the contribute fruntion of synctoy would work for what I want?

I use the contribute function and I think its about the safest method. You may end up with some old files on your backup drive, but at least that's better than losing them if you accidentally delete the wrong one from the source.

Synctoy is a very useful program and it's free.

[Bootsie]

Thanks for the help everyone, I have been using Synctoy on the contribute function now, and it seems to do what I want.