computer back ups

[Joe Hussar]

Hi.............

I manage a web site and need to back up my computer frequently. I originally used a zip drive for this, then CD's and now I use a SanDisk flash drive.

It is time consuming and of course only backs up the files/folders directed to.

The Windows Home Server offers a great alternative - but I don't have a network (only one computer), and it's about $600 (plus another drive if you want redundancy)

Are there any other options that would:

1 - allow me to do automatic back ups (ie; daily or whatever)
2 - would back up everything so if my computer died an instant death, I could put the back up info. on another computer/drive and not have to reinstall any programs ("everything would be there")?
3 - be smart enough to only back up the things that changed from previous back ups - otherwise it would take forever

I also really like the idea behind the Windows Home Server that allows you to access your computer from any remote internet connection - but this is an extra if available - not something I need.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have!!

[bathurst_guy]

Buy a Mac and use Time Machine, with Time Capsule if you want it done wirelessly.

[Joe Hussar]

I don't want to change computers - do you know of something as good but for a PC?

[gd6noob]

there are other programs other then the built-in windows remote desktop.. i use Real VNC which is pretty awesome...

as for the backup thing.. no clue.. external drive and just let it sit backing up overnight?

[Watts]

Couldn't you just use Windows Backup? I believe it will let you do a full backup and then incrementals and even create and even create an ERD. Check your original installation disk to see if it came with whatever version you are using.

[tobiaseichner]

You may look for a backup solution that offers you to clone the entire startup disk (internal harddrive of your computer). By doing so, you always has a ready-to-boot copy of your original harddrive.

In case of hardware defects, you simply need to replace the old HD with the backup drive one and are up and running in minutes.

In case of software (or human ;-) failures, you can also restore just selected files.

Unfortunately I don't have a recommendation at hand (I have several for the Mac OS, but you look for Windows). You may search on some resource sites like www.download.com for the keywords "clone harddisk backup" or similar.

[TJ111]

I have an HP laptop from work that allows scheduled back ups of the entire hard drive, I'm sure theres some open source program out there that offers similar functionality. On my linux machine I use Fly Back, which is basically a linux version of Time Machine.

[robertketter]

Something I use is a combonation of programs..

First I use SecondCopy to make local copies of my files to a second hard drive (Actually I have a network attached drive)

Second I use JungleDisk to automatically backup to AmazonS3 each night.

One more nice thing about secondcopy is its ftp ability. Secondcopy can zip, password protect, then upload via ftp to your website.