Backup or Copy?

[Christina82]

Hi everyone. I am a college student needing to interview an experienced computer owner. The only thing I need to know is the difference between copying and backing up files and which method is preferable for backing up large amounts of data, and why. Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[HoLoCroN]

Well the difference between the two is very slight, they are almost the same thing (from the computer's perspective).

For example, you have your Windows operating system CD that you just purchased for a hefty sum of $200.00 US. Obviously if that CD were to get damaged... you just lost $200 bucks... Not Good

What you could do is create a backup copy of your disk onto another CD. Now you have a backup (identical copy) of your OS Disk.

Copying would be making a copy of the backup.

This subject has allot of gray area, and definitions will vary but essentially, these are the basic differences of the two.


If your content is already on a computer, for instance a word document, you can create a copy of that file and save it onto a floppy or some sort of removable media. By making your copy.. you have just created your backup.

 

[TheMajor]

or you can store lots of files in an image-file. I call it 'making a backup'

backing up in an image-file has the advantage of compression. you can compress the files to make the image smaller

 

[Christina82]

Thanks! That helps alot. It's obvious, but hard to put into words for an essay Thank you very much for you fast reply!

 

[ShoobieRat]

Depends on how much you're backing up, too. If it's just a few pansy files, then a floppy will do (granted FDD don't totally disappear before you need it again).

If you have a medium amount of data, a CD will do.

If you have gigs worth of data, invest in a tape drive or even a raid setup.

For my main machine at work, I have a second machine that's setup as a backup-dump, and a third machine that's a carbon-copy backup of the second machine. Aside from flooding (on the fifth floor) or a fire, it's pretty sound.

 

[TheMajor]

what's 'carbon-copy' ?

 

[Christina82]

Well, this is actually an XP thing, i think. It is asking what is the best method to back up your entire hard disk.

 

[Christina82]

I am not quite sure what a system backup is...It is located on your hard drive, correct? If this is the case and the computer crashes, does this mean that the backup is still available on the computer? Or would it be better to have a 'hard' copy on disk?

 

[TheMajor]

I use DriveImage to make a backup of my entire drive. The drive where XP is installed. You can choose how much you want to compress it (high,low etc) and select a location to save it.

I save it to another hardrive, so if my XP craches I can restore the backup-file (image)

So if the first harddrive explodes I still have the backup of my enitire system (except files wich are located on other drives)
and I cn restore it on a new harddrive for example

 

[Christina82]

Okay, gotcha...