Backing Up Files

[drumthrasher]

ok, i have over 20gb of important stuff i think i should backup, but i'm not sure what i'm going to do.
1) i have a second hard drive, but its dedicated to vista rc1 x64. i'd like to partition it, but everywhere i go people say if i partition, everything will be, pretty much formatted.
2) i have lots of blank dvd's left but i'd have to use about 5 of them...i'll probably do this.
3) i was thinkin about getting an external hard drive, but for the price of a little 40gb, i can get a 200gb, but i don't need that much. if someone can find a, maybe, 20-50gb hd for less than $50, i'd be more than happy to buy one.

if there are any other suggestions please post.

 

[freestyler105]

If you have WinRAR, in Windows Explorer you can right-click the drive and hit "Add to archive...", and create a compressed backup of all the files on the drive. If you don't need all the files on the drive, you can do that same procedure with any folder/file.

Another alternative is that if you have Nero, it has a tool within it called Nero BackItUp which can automatically compress and burn your selected files to a CD or DVD.

This should reduce the size considerably, and then you can copy it to whatever media you choose.

You really aren't going to find an external hard drive for less than $50. They usually start around $75, and this is the cheapest one I could find:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822154623

 

[drumthrasher]

thanks!!!!
i'll try nero backitup. didn't know i had it till now. i'll try that out and see how it goes.

 

[Tommy Boy]

I'd just back up your info onto the dvd's like you said, that way you'll have a permanent backup of the info that won't get lost or whatever. Thats what I do, just do backups on to dvd's.

I've heard that backup software can have problems and such when you try to restore the files.

 

[drumthrasher]

thats what i was thinking...my old windows 95 computer had some kind of backup program built in, i used that, but it didn't work right.

 

[Raffaz]

thats what i was thinking...my old windows 95 computer had some kind of backup program built in, i used that, but it didn't work right.

You have something similar in XP aswell. Goto start > all programs > accessories > system tools > backup. Not sure if ya knew this but thought id mention it incase ya never.