Rescue The Drowning PC - Backing Up the Whole Enchilada

Rescue The Drowning PC - Backing Up the Whole Enchilada

This is a large undertaking. Forget using floppy disks, unless you want to juggle literally hundreds of the damned things. There are two good ways to do this: tape backup drives at least as big as your hard drive, and CD-R (rapidly becoming obsolete), CD-RW, or DVD-RAM drives that allow you to "burn" your backup data onto a CD or three (my recommendation: it's shamefully easy to both backup and reinstall backup data, a matter of minutes instead of the usual hours). Removable-disk units like Iomega's Zip drive just aren't big enough (100 to 250MB), and are prone to failure (ask an Iomega user about the "Click of Death," and prepare to be entertained, or go to grc.com/clickdeath.htm for more info). Internal removable-disk drives are cheaper than external drives, but require you to open your PC up and install it, while external drives just plug into the parallel port. If you go the tape drive route, once you get it installed, test it before trusting it by backing up and restoring a few random files when you set up the drive's software. Do this once a month to keep things honest. Then, after you've gotten it installed and rolling, do a full tape backup. Every time you make significant changes to your data files or your file structure, do an incremental backup to save the changes. (Save time by backing up just your data folder and its subfolders.) Keep tapes off-site if at all possible; that way, the firebug who burns your house down doesn't get your data along with everything else. (Do not back up your drive to a tape drive, move the tape drive to the new PC, and reinstall from there -- hardware conflicts could render Win9x DOA.) An alternative is to check out Web-based online backup services like X:drive, Network Associates' Personal Vault, Connected TLM, @Backup SkyDesk, StoragePoint, Atrieva, and the free (and competitive) Visto, FreeBack, FreeDrive, JustOn, MySpace, Yahoo! Briefcase, and vVault (optimized for mobile users). The cost varies from about $10 a month to $1 per mb, can be slow and cumbersome, vary in features offered, and may not always be available when you want them, but you don't have to buy those backup drives. (Additional caveat: when these sites say "free storage," they often mean free Web content only -- you can store HTML files to your heart's content, but other kinds of files may cost you. And some of these sites may no longer be available.) Keep up with the current state of free storage sites at www.all-the-free-space.com/, and be warned; the industry is losing free storage providers right and left; i-Drive, Driveway, My Docs Online, and others have either gotten out altogether or gone to a pay-to-store model. If you do decide to go with the Backup utility provided with Windows 95, make sure you download the patch to fix it (see below); also, running it minimized seems to make it run a good bit faster than if you keep its window open while backing up. (Win ME and Win 98 users, you have MS Backup, but you may not have it installed on your machine. Win 98 users can go through Add/Remove in Control Panel to add it; Win ME users need to access the ADD-ONS\MSBACKUP folder on the Win ME CD, and run the MSBEXP.EXE file. Thereafter you'll have it as part of System Tools.) Some experts recommend skipping the Windows utility and using a third-party one such as Backup Exec or DataSaver Personal Backup. Second Copy is a $30 utility that makes "second copies" of designated files automatically, sending them to wherever you tell it. Trial downloads are available from www.centered.com/. And for the dauntless DOS user, there's always XCOPY -- keep reading.

You can use XCOPY to make a copy of your Windows directory before installing a new program, in case something goes wonky (remember, this isn't the same as a full backup, you're just making a copy of the directory structure for future reference). Backing up your Windows directory allows you to maintain your file structure in case of trouble. Do this by closing all running programs, including those which auto-load when Windows starts up, and opening a DOS window. Switch to the drive that you want to back up, and create a new directory called WinSafty (for Windows Safety) by typing the command MD WINSAFTY. Next, if Windows and WinSafty are in the root directory of your C: drive, which they likely are, back up the directory structure by typing XCOPY C:\WINDOWS C:\WINSAFTY /C /H /E /K /R /V (trust me on these switches, and don't leave any out). Now your file structure is copied to C:WINSAFTY, and can be accessed when necessary. Another way to print your file directory is to use the freeware utility PrintFolder 1.2, from no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/ or any of dozens of other directory printing freebies.

The now-defunct PC\Computing has gifted us with the "One-Button Backup." Basically, it works like this: Start the Backup Accessory from the Start Menu (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools). Choose the files you want to back up, such as critical document files or whatever. Don't press the Start Backup button just yet. Now, look at the backup options under Settings/Options/Backup. Check the box marked "Quit Backup after the operation is finished." Select whichever other options you want, and choose where to save the data. Then save the backup profile to somewhere you'll see easily, like the Desktop. Close the Backup Accessory. Now click on the Backup icon you've created, choose Yes when asked, and on the Taskbar you'll see the backup program appear as it does its job behind the scenes. That's all there is to it. If you have the System Agent or Task Scheduler from Win98 or MSIE 4, you can automatically start the backup whenever you like.

The also-defunct Windows Magazine has given us another batch backup called the "One-Minute Life Saver," which backs up critical files without going through Backup. Here's how you do it. First, create a destination folder such as D:\VAULT (you can create this on your source drive, such as C:, but if your hard drive malfunctions, this won't do you much good). Now create a text file in Notebook called LIFESAVE.BAT and place it in your root directory (probably C:). Copy the following lines into it:

COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT D:\VAULT
COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.DOS D:\VAULT
COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS D:\VAULT
COPY C:\CONFIG.DOS D:\VAULT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.INI D:\VAULT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI D:\VAULT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI D:\VAULT
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\MSDOS.SYS
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT
ATTRIB -R -H -S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT
COPY C:\MSDOS.SYS D:\VAULT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT D:\VAULT
COPY C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT D:\VAULT
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\MSDOS.SYS
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\WINDOWS\USER.DAT
ATTRIB +R +H +S C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT

Now, by double-clicking on LIFESAVE.BAT, you can back up the files before disaster strikes. Want to automate it so it will run every time you start your PC? Open your C:\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\STARTUP folder. Right-click on the background and choose New/Shortcut. Enter C:\LIFESAVE.BAT in the Command Line field. Name it something such as "One-Minute Life Saver" or whatever strikes your fancy. Right-click on the shortcut, choose Properties and then the Program tab. At the bottom of that tab, check the Close on Exit box. Now every time you restart your computer, you'll automatically start the Lifesaver backup program in a DOS box which will soon close and let you get about your business.

A freeware backup utility, "My Own Backup," overcomes its dorky title by being truly useful. It supports most computer media, including CD-RW, Zip and Jaz discs, even floppies. You can store the backed-up files uncompressed for easy access, or compressed in .ZIP format for more efficient storage. You can use command-line options to restore files, and password-protect your backups. Get it from Fredrik Joahnsson at home4.swipnet.se/~w-42000/MOB.

To update a backup job without having to re-create it from the Start menu, select Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then Backup. Select "Open An Existing Backup Job," and click OK. Choose the backup you want to update, then click Open. Next to "What To Backup," select "New And Changed Files," then choose Start.

A good source of info is the ZDNet article, "Dealing With OS Decay: Rebuilding Your Windows System from Scratch," located at www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2531288,00.html. And EasyRecovery gives an excellent tutorial for making recovery CDs from backup disks at www.easydesksoftware.com/recovery.htm. Another good article is Fred Langa's piece on Win 98/ME/NT/XP/2K backups at www.langa.com/backups/backups.htm and www.langa.com/backups/backups(13).htm.

Find out what all those arcane error messages at startup mean at support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q129/9/71.asp.

Putting old setup floppies on a CD is usually easy enough. Just set up the CD with a subfolder for each floppy (i.e. name the subfolders something like disk1, disk2, disk3, etc.). Then you simply copy each floppy's contents to the like-named folder on the CD (floppy #1's contents to the subfolder named "disk1," for example). Be sure you copy everything from each floppy -- including hidden and system files -- to the target subfolder. You may need to hang on to the master setup disk (usually floppy #1 in a set) as the software may be keyed to it, requiring it to be run from, say, the A: drive to start the setup. But once the setup starts, you can point the installer at the appropriate folders on the CD, and the software should install just fine -- and much faster than if it were on floppies.

There's a boot disk set for Windows XP Home and Professional. Get them at the Microsoft site:

XP Home: www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=021015UP-XP_Home
XP Pro: www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=021015UP-XP_Professional

Rescue The Drowning Computer

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