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  • Backup Suggestions

    Hi to all the awesome techs on this forum!

    My mother-in-law needs a backup system for her computers at work. She's a solo practitioner lawyer. Her files are not huge (mostly WordPerfect and some law specific programs). I thought the simplest solution would be an external hard drive and backup software.

    Any suggestions are welcome and I'm grateful. If you think a hard drive is a good choice, great, but I have no idea what backup software is available and best.

    Thanks,
    WG
    Labor boards have info on local laws for free
    HR believes the first person in the door
    Learn how to go over whackamole bosses' heads safely
    Document everything
    CS proves Dunning-Kruger effect

  • #2
    Well, just how big are the files we're looking at? If she's got <32GB of stuff, you can get a USB drive for less than $150, if you look around. That'd work well as a once a week off-site storage. That works well to help site disaster recovery such as fire or flood.

    Then for on-site back-ups an external drive would be fine. Depending on how paranoid you want to be, a dual HDD enclosure running in RAID 1 gives you pretty much the most security without going overboard.

    As for specific back-up software, I've no suggestions as I haven't worked with any. I just move my files by hand.
    Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

    http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

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    • #3
      My MIL is not an idiot, but she loudly proclaims that she is not a tech person. So she has this mental block about doing anything out of the ordinary on her computer.

      The best choice, which is why I asked about software, is something that, at the end of the day, she can just run a program that does everything for her. Much more than that and she'll won't do it, either because she doesn't want to spend the time or because she'll say it's too involved.
      Labor boards have info on local laws for free
      HR believes the first person in the door
      Learn how to go over whackamole bosses' heads safely
      Document everything
      CS proves Dunning-Kruger effect

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      • #4
        I would go with the Ext.HDD solution, really.

        The Western Digital "MyBook" line seems to be getting good reviews, and they're designed for plug'n'play users instead of techies, with bells and whistles like a capacity gauge and (on all but the "Essentials" version) automated backups. Plus, the "Home" version is capable of eSATA (aka Firewire 800) connections in addition to USB 2.0, if your MIL has the plug for it, so it wouldn't feel "external" at all.
        ...WHY DO YOU TEMPT WHAT LITTLE FAITH IN HUMANITY I HAVE!?! -- Kalga
        And I want a pony for Christmas but neither of us is getting what we want OK! What you are asking is impossible. -- Wicked Lexi

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        • #5
          There are even Ext-HDD devices with a button that launches a complete backup.

          Since it's just doc files, you can do what I got my mother to learn to do with her files. Learn where she saves all her files. Burn a copy of said files on a CD and file the CD away.
          I've lost my mind ages ago. If you find it, please hide it.

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          • #6
            For a couple of examples, I have a system that gets backed up every week - my wife does church bulletins and documents, and of course we have family pictures, documents, and e-mail.

            I use the Backup feature in Windows XP Pro, with a 120GB external drive. I set it up to backup all the My Documents folder, the publications folder, and the e-mail folder every week. Once a month, I burn to DVD's and send them to the church rectory.

            For the church computer at the rectory that's used to calculate financial data, I use the backup facility in their specialty financial software and burn 2 copies to CD - one to be kept at the rectory, and one to send home.

            I guess what I'm saying is that it's important for sensitive data to be backed up and kept at multiple locations - you never know when a theft, fire, electrical damage, or flood may happen.

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            • #7
              The one thing I would recomend to you is to do a 2 drive system. Something where you have one external hard drive on site and one off site. So if you are doing the backups on fridays you would just switch the drives on fridays. This way she is always covered in case of a fire/flood/theft/etc.

              As others have said some of the drives come with backup software that you can utilize at the touch of a button.

              Another option is to just locate all of her files in one directory. Then just a simple copy to the external drive is all that you would need to do. You could even create a batch file that would do the job for you and just keep a icon for it on the desktop.
              My Karma ran over your dogma.

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              • #8
                i personally dislike WD cos the one time i bought one of them it never worked, and i've heard bad things from co-workers about it.

                then again the one i did get also crashed.. so hah...

                ironically the ones that worked the best for me have been the bus-powered drives.

                (but if you really want to go super-tech there's always a raid-5... lol)

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                • #9
                  Quoth JustADude View Post
                  eSATA (aka Firewire 800)
                  Erm, FireWire 800 and eSATA are NOT the same.
                  "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

                  RIP Plaidman.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth wagegoth View Post
                    My MIL is not an idiot, but she loudly proclaims that she is not a tech person. So she has this mental block about doing anything out of the ordinary on her computer.

                    The best choice, which is why I asked about software, is something that, at the end of the day, she can just run a program that does everything for her. Much more than that and she'll won't do it, either because she doesn't want to spend the time or because she'll say it's too involved.
                    My personal backup system is an external hard drive and Norton Save and Restore.

                    NSR can be set up to back up specific files/folders or an entire drive (using ghost-like image files) on a scheduled basis. I have mine set up to back up my C: drive once a week, keeping two or three image files and deleting older ones. It also makes a twice-a-week backup of my documents folder.

                    Restores are quick and easy. I've restored my Vista C: drive once, an old XP desktop once, and my laptop twice. Each time, the system came up exactly as it was when it was backed up.

                    File restores from an image file is just as easy. The image file can be mounted like a hard drive and browsed the same way. To restore from individual file backups you need to know the name of the file to restore and search for it.

                    Using this, along with a good RAID-1 external hard drive would be the easiest options for a non-technical user. It's very easy to set and forget.

                    This is, perhaps the only Symantec product I currently use and recommend.


                    Eric the Grey
                    In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Dave1982 View Post
                      Erm, FireWire 800 and eSATA are NOT the same.
                      Editing problem there. Meant to say "(even eSATA)" and apparently had a PEBCAK error.
                      ...WHY DO YOU TEMPT WHAT LITTLE FAITH IN HUMANITY I HAVE!?! -- Kalga
                      And I want a pony for Christmas but neither of us is getting what we want OK! What you are asking is impossible. -- Wicked Lexi

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                      • #12
                        I'd stay away from anything Norton except Norton Ghost. I'd recommend Acronis TrueImage.

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