Genealogy Chat

Does anyone have any experience of any of the Free Backup software available ?

I have Windows XP and for some reason the Free Microsoft version will not downlaod completely.

At present I am "draging and dropping" and it is soooo time consuming !!

Hi Elizabeth
Where is the free back up software available from?
Bob

Are we talking about a backup for your family tree or your computer?

If it is just your family tree that you are concerned about that can be easily rectified by copying either your tree or a Gedcom file over to a CD or a memory stick.

If it is a complete computer backup you are seeking then companies like Norton will do it online for a fee providing you already have their software iinstalled on your computer.

The other option is to have either a second hard drive or a memory stick which is bigger than the total storage already on your computer and use backup software like Norton Ghost. This copies an image of your computer onto the second storage device. In the event of your computer going down completely or you suffer a loss of a file, they can be completely restored to as they were at the time of your last backup. The beauty of software like Norton Ghost is an emergency disk that can be used to boot up your computer if neccessary and then completly restore it from the backup image.

I am not certain but I think Windows 7 may also have some backup capability.

The important thing is to have your backup in a seperate location to your main hard drive.

Michael

Robert

I just googled "Free Backup Software" and there are several available-my local Computer shop suggested the Microsoft one (Microsoft Downloads-synctoy) but it did not download so hoped someone had tried one of the others.
They did suggest a second hard drive too

Thank you Michael-I will probably have to follow your suggestion,I have the memory stick just need the software !!

Rather than drag the documents to your memory stick can't you just click the whole section "my documents or my pictures" then click send and your memory stick should appear as an option to send them to.

Sorry if it's not explained very well.

Christine

Hi Christine

I have not used the memory stick yet-just got it !

Been draging and dropping to a CD as XP does not have "backup" included

You will gather I do not know much about how computers work !!

You can do the same thing I suggested to a cd or dvd as long as the blank is inserted in the drive, it should come up as an option of the place to send to.

Christine

Thanks Christine-will give it a go !

Just to say "thank you" to Christine-her tip on backing up to CD worked a treat !

Pleased it worked ok for you Elizabeth, there is probably a better way to do it but it's always worked for me.

Christine

If you want a really "hassle-free" method of backing up, check out ClickFree. All you do is plug it in (to a USB port) and it will go find all your data files (no more dragging and dropping), wherever they are on the drive and back them up. It works on a "need-to-do basis", i.e. if a file hasn't changed since last time, it won't back it up again, meaning later backups are quicker. Added bonus if you have more than one computer (i.e. desktop and laptop) it can see multiple computers on the one drive and keeps them seperate.
Also has a little reminder programme, telling you when you haven't backed up for x days (you set the time depending on your PC usage), so no need to even remember when you last backed up.
Different capacities are available depending on your needs. See Amazon/QVC amonst many other places.