At ANY time the Harddrive that holds your data can FAIL.
BE WARNED A HARDDRIVE CAN FAIL AT 1 MONTH OLD OR 15 YEARS+
Therefore your safeguard is to organise regular backups to protect your sensitive and irreplaceable files.
It is not necessary to backup the entire harddrive as Software can be reloaded from the Floppy Disks or CDROMS that were provided when the programs were purchased. Only backup data that you create such as word documents, spreadsheets, templates, e-mail, address books, contacts etc.
In Windows95, Windows98 and WindowsME there are three steps involved in creating a backup
1. Select the Files required for Backup
2. Select where to Backup (Floppy Drive, Zip Drive, Network Computer etc.)
3. SAVE the File Backup Set for later use.
Backup saves the data in a single compressed file. When it is necessary to restore, the Backup Program knows exactly where to replace the individual files.
The following explains how to back up in Windows98 :-
STEP 1:
Select Backup from "Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools" This will open a Wizard screen and at this point we need to "Create a new backup job" so as to select the files that we want to backup.
(NOTE: If the backup program is not there you will need to load the software from
Windows 98 Installation CDROM. Select Add/Remove Programs in "Control Panel" choose "Windows Setup" Tab and select System Tools under Components.
WindowsME does not install Microsoft Backup when you load the operating system - nor will you find it in "Windows Setup". You will need to load Windows ME Installation CD and navigate to the folder "add-ons" on the CD. Inside "add-ons" there is a folder called "MSBackup". Click on the program file msbexp.exe to install Microsoft Backup.)
STEP 2:
In the "What to back up" screen, select "Back up selected files,folders and drives"
STEP 3:
In the next screen we select the files/folders that we would like to back up. Navigate through the folders just as you do in Windows Explorer. By clicking on the + sign next to a folder will expand ALL folders nestled inside. (Clicking the - sign will collapse the expanded tree).
By putting a tick inside the box adjacent to the Folder we will backup all files and folders that are located inside. In example "A" we have inserted a tick in "My Documents" (Note that the tick is Blue) and this has selected ALL Folders and Files beneath it.
Click here to find out How To ... locate where your Address Book and Emails ar stored on your computer.
EXAMPLE "A"
In example "B" we have selected the Folder "My Pictures" only. This folder is beneath "My Documents". Notice that the tick in "My Pictures" is Blue, indicating that all files in that folder are selected, whereas the tick in "My Documents" is Grey, indicating that SOME of the folders/files are selected beneath it.
EXAMPLE "B"
In example "C" we have opened the folder "My Pictures" by double clicking on it and have selected individual files only - Cliff in Clouds, Diagonal Sand, Shed in Field and Vinca jpg files. Note now that the folder icon for "My Pictures" is showing that it is open and that the Grey tick indicates that only SOME files are selected.
EXAMPLE "C"
STEP 4:
After selecting Files and Folders click NEXT. This screen asks us where we would like to back up to. By clicking on the folder icon button (in screenshot the icon is highlighted and the cursor is pointing to it), we can navigate to the destination that we want ie. Floppy Disk, CD Writer, Zip Disk etc.
STEP 5:
In the following example we have chosen to back up to the "A" (Floppy Disk) and we have called the backup file "Test Backup". After naming your backup file click OPEN.
STEP 6:
Next we select "Compress the backup data to save space". It is not necessary to select "Compare original .... " as the backup will tell us at the end if it encountered any errors. Continue by clicking NEXT.
STEP 7:
Here we type a Name for our backup set that we have just created. This is important because next time we do a backup, we will select this Name when we use "Open an existing backup job" on the first screen when we run the Backup program. Continue by clicing START.
STEP 8:
The backup will commence and you will get a Progress screen as below. In this example we are backing up 29 Files at 4.44 Meg.
STEP 9:
The backup program will prompt you when to insert another disk. If you use say three disks, label them Disk 1 of 3, Disk 2 of 3 etc. This is important because if we need to restore later, we need to know the order of the disks and how many disks there are in the set.
STEP 10:
You will get a "Operation Completed" screen when the backup has finished. Click OK to view status of the backup.
FINAL STEP:
If the backup has been successful you will see "No errors" in the Status field. Should it display "Errors", click on the REPORT button and the log will tell you what went wrong. In most cases it is because you had a document or email open at the time you ran the backup.
That's it. Close the program by clicking the X top right hand corner.
Click here to see how you use the same Backup set next time you Backup.
