to the techsperts

[tomrca]

i have started taking your advice and removed norton installed firefox and a new antivirus + a second drive

 

[DonNagual]

The ultimate system:

A dell computer (any make/model, it doesn't matter)
Windows XP SP1 never upgraded once
Windows Explorer used all the time
Norton Antivirus

Yep that's it. That's what keeps this site getting so many hits every day!

 

[patio]

The ultimate system:

A dell computer (any make/model, it doesn't matter)
Windows XP SP1 never upgraded once
Windows Explorer used all the time
Norton Antivirus

Yep that's it. That's what keeps this site getting so many hits every day!

:haha: :haha: :haha:

patio.

 

[tomrca]

[for the texperts] two hard drives

if there is any tips on which drive i should keep any specific programmes please let me know. I have dedicated only one drive with an OS, so the other is safe from loss. I hope!!

 

[patio]

The safest approach to this is to develop your own backup strategies and then follow thru on them...neither drive is "safer" as a HDD failure can occur at anytime and usually with little or no warning.

I use a few programs for this and although they aren't the only ones out there i have found thru experience they are the best for mu needs.

My main backup program is Acronis True Image. About 50 bucks U.S. it has saved me many times.
When i did my latest re-build after installing XP Pro and SP2 and all updates i also installed FireFox, Thunderbird all my diagnostics software and Anti-virus programs.
I then created an image using Acronis and burned it to CD. This is known as my "virgin" backup and is 10 times faster to restore than it would be for a repair install or for that matter a clean install of XP. It has everything i need for the basics.

Next i do an Acronis image of my HDD every 2 weeks and also burn those images. I also save the current image in a hidden partition on another drive. Reason for this is image files do not like scanning; defragmenting and some of the other maintenence routines i normally perform.

For the Documents and Settings folder i use SyncBack once a week and store that archive on the hidden partition. It allows incremental file comparisons so i'm not backing up from scratch; just what has changed since it last ran

Any programs i DLoad and test if they meet my requirements for being part of my machine get copied into a folder i call ZIPS. This ensures i have originals and this is burned to CD weekly as well.

Worst case scenario i am restored back to full running status usually within an hour and no further away than 1 week at most.

Works for me...

patio.

 

[tomrca]

2 hard drives

thank you for your response. since i got your reply i have aquired acronis but now need to find out how to work it and need to read your reply a few more times so that it will sink in!!! How many cd's am i looking to need to back up image of drive one of 30gb with only 15% free space and the other 80gb with 60% free space? and will it save to dvd too ?