Quick question RE backing up data

choosinganame

Haven't posted much on Boards.ie, still a relative "Newbie" so excuse me if I've gotten the wrong forum, and feel free to move me if I have!

I have my trusty old laptop for the past 3 years now and she's falling apart bless her.. I'm thinking it's really about time I backed my data up. I know, I know I really should have done this a long time ago but I've been procrastinating it until now.

I keep getting random warning messages on the laptop, keeps shutting down unexpectedly and things like that so I'm guessing I should do it sooner rather than later.

Now I've only got say a couple hundred photos and say 30-35 word documents that I want to hang on to.

Whats the easiest/cheapest/fastest way to do this?

Thanks in advance for advice!!

thenashlegend

choosinganame wrote: »

Haven't posted much on Boards.ie, still a relative "Newbie" so excuse me if I've gotten the wrong forum, and feel free to move me if I have!

I have my trusty old laptop for the past 3 years now and she's falling apart bless her.. I'm thinking it's really about time I backed my data up. I know, I know I really should have done this a long time ago but I've been procrastinating it until now.

I keep getting random warning messages on the laptop, keeps shutting down unexpectedly and things like that so I'm guessing I should do it sooner rather than later.

Now I've only got say a couple hundred photos and say 30-35 word documents that I want to hang on to.

Whats the easiest/cheapest/fastest way to do this?

Thanks in advance for advice!!

I'd be inclined to say an external hard drive, can be bought quite cheaply these days! Id say roughly €50 for a 500-750gb unit.

It might seem like a lot of storage but it's better to have it than be looking for it ...and it will always come in handy for other storage!

But to be really cheap just pick up a DVD-r, put all your precious items in a folder and burn it to the disc! Costs about a euro!

Ronan H

Just buy an 8GB USB stick and back up what you have onto that. It will be more than sufficient for the photos and documents that you have. In fact a 4GB USB stick would probably be more than enough.

You dont even need a backup program if you literally just want the photos and documents, you can just copy them onto it manually and you're done.

If you want to back up all the settings etc. on your machine then you will need to use specific software (and depending on what version of windows you have, there might be a backup program built in). Doing that kind of backup will take up a lot more space though so you will have to bear that in mind. Reasons that people back up their settings are usually just in case they want to reinstall windows and revert to their old settings. If this isn't important to you then my first suggestion will do just fine.

Ronan

choosinganame

Ronan H wrote: »

Just buy an 8GB USB stick and back up what you have onto that. It will be more than sufficient for the photos and documents that you have. In fact a 4GB USB stick would probably be more than enough.

You dont even need a backup program if you literally just want the photos and documents, you can just copy them onto it manually and you're done.

If you want to back up all the settings etc. on your machine then you will need to use specific software (and depending on what version of windows you have, there might be a backup program built in). Doing that kind of backup will take up a lot more space though so you will have to bear that in mind. Reasons that people back up their settings are usually just in case they want to reinstall windows and revert to their old settings. If this isn't important to you then my first suggestion will do just fine.

Ronan

To be honest I didn't know that you were supposed to back up your settings. I'm going to buy a new laptop soon anyways so is there any point do you think?

Can't backup onto the disk seeing as my disk drive is broken! The 4GB USB stick sounds like it's my best option for the moment so!

Ronan H

choosinganame wrote: »

To be honest I didn't know that you were supposed to back up your settings. I'm going to buy a new laptop soon anyways so is there any point do you think?

Can't backup onto the disk seeing as my disk drive is broken! The 4GB USB stick sounds like it's my best option for the moment so!

It's not so much that you are "supposed to" back up your settings, moreso that it's an option depending on what your needs are. If you are getting a new laptop then don't worry about it. Just get the USB stick and you'll be grand I think.

Ro

choosinganame

Ronan H wrote: »

It's not so much that you are "supposed to" back up your settings, moreso that it's an option depending on what your needs are. If you are getting a new laptop then don't worry about it. Just get the USB stick and you'll be grand I think.

Ro

Sound (:

Ziegfeldgirl27

I would get an external hard drive. I'm actually going to buy another one so I can back up my back up!

Be careful with memory sticks I stored all my family photos on there when my old computer got a virus and I was putting them onto my new laptop. I set the laptop down on the sofa with the memory stick still inserted and the stick got bent and it couldn't read any data. Got a complete scare because all my precious photos may have been lost forever.... Luckily they were recovered from the chip inside and I was able to put them on the external HD.