Dealing with semi skilled IT personnel can be devastating for your data. In some cases you might not have a better option. Consequently some people loose their data in the process of getting their computers repaired. After being in the IT field for close to 12 years and having done innumerable Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista and Linux installations, this is my advice to users of Desktop/Laptop Personal Computers.
I have covered backing up email in a separate post. I will also stick to currently available operating systems such as Windows XP, Vista and 7. Linux will not usually allow you to save data out of your home folder, so your data will lie in /home/username where username is the username you use to log in to Linux. All application settings and data will be stored in appropriately named hidden folders with names starting with a dot (.). You can view them by pressing Ctrl + H in the Nautilus file manager. (If you are using the Gnome desktop)
If you don’t wish to mess with backup yourself, when the service technician arrives, he would need the following inputs from you.
- Location – where your data is stored. You might have stored some/all of it outside the My Documents folder or in another partition. Ideally show it to him/her.
- If E-mail is setup in Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, Zimbra, Eudora etc… let them know.
- If you have some non standard programs such as Ex-Next Generation, Tally, Epi info etc.. installed -as these programs by default save their data in the C: drive which will usually be formatted and data thus destroyed -point it out to them.
- Provide all the software CD’s along with serial numbers to him/her. (And remember to take it back)
- If you have an OEM copy of Windows (The body of your computer/underside of your laptop will have a sticker [COA- Certificate of Authenticity] with the Windows serial number on it) insist that he/she use a Windows OEM CD for installation and make sure that they use the same serial number as on the COA during installation -otherwise your installed product is invalid (unless another legit CD is used)
- Insist that your data be backed up to a removable disk prior to format and copy it elsewhere as an added protection against data loss. Compare the total folder size (by right clicking the backed up folder and clicking on properties) with the original folders.
Some advice for Personal Computer users about storing and backing up their data.
- Organize and keep all your music, videos, photographs, e-books and other unchanging data backed up on CD’s or DVD’s. You will not therefore need to worry about backing them up whenever your hard disk needs a format or against a precaution against a crash.
- Unless you are exceptionally organised, avoid making multiple partitions on your hard disk, and keep storing your data in the pre-assigned folders that Windows has created for you such as My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, My Videos in Windows XP, and Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos in Windows Vista. This allows your Windows files and your own data to freely expand and contract -limited only by the size of your disk. Although it looks beneficial to have an extra partition to dump your data onto prior to a format, the end result would be that sooner or later you will have numerous data folders on the other partition, without a clue as to what data is current. Mostly you will end up with multiple copies of data which you wont have time to sort through and neither would you want to risk deleting it for fear of losing a legitimate backup. Finally, you will end up with an ever growing pile of data on your other partitions (D:, E:, F: etc) -it might not be an option for long though, both Windows Vista & Ubuntu Linux have very good search engines which index your computer when it is idle.
- Go through your data regularly and delete obsolete data. The less clutter, the easier it is to work and find stuff. Clutter is distracting. Windows, Yahoo and Google Desktop search applications encourage clutter, so avoid them.
- Backup your data regularly to a USB disk or purchase an automated data backup solution to backup your data via your Internet connection to a remote ftp server.
- The userdata folder in Windows XP and Vista can be found in the userprofile folder. To access it in Windows XP, click start > Run and type in %userprofile% and click OK or press enter. In Windows Vista and 7, click on Start and type %userprofile% in the search box and press enter. Inside this folder, you can find your Desktop as well as your Documents/Pictures/Music folders. In Windows XP however, the Pictures, Videos and Music are stored inside the Documents folder itself. You can now backup these folders wherever you wish and later restore them by copying them back to the same computer or to a different one.
- If you had written your unchanging data to CD/DVD, you can now copy it back from them. It should have saved you a lot of time and the data itself as some times when file names are too long or there are other errors on a file on your disk or in the disk itself, you might not be able to easily back up your data! (Warning CD/DVD backups are not reliable if they are not stored/handled optimally)
- Don’t install everything that is free. Install only software that you will use and is necessary.
- It is common to have multiple copies of data which you have “backed up” and forgotten. You can use a software for finding duplicate files on your system and delete the unnecessary or unknown copies of the same file. A good freeware utility is available from http://www.12oclocker.com/soft/dupfinder.htm
- Use either Windows backup or “Back in Time” or “Simple Backup for Gnome” in Linux. Another option is to use the Syncback program for backups.
- Backups can be done to your folder on the office server, or an Internet or local ftp server or to a USB Hard drive or DVD drive or one of these NAS Devices.
This is a backup created with WIndows 7's backup utility. Note that files are not individually accessible. This does not happen when using Syncbak, where you can access individual files just like on your PC
