Need help backing up my files.

[WasTech]

Hey guys,

I'm backing up my files for the first time in over a year. I know I messed up. Anyway, Now that it's been so long I have a lot of files I want to save to DVD 4.7GB . My problem is I can't tell what is new and what is old. I setup details view D mod, D created but there is too many files to sort it all out. So can somebody help me get out of this predicament? I've been trying to backup files for 2 days now and I'm getting nowhere fast.

Also I'd like to know the best cheap or free backup program to get. Also tell me the best way to avoid this problem again. Like how often to backup and anything else. I dlded Synctoy but not sure which Action to use in it. I have 2 partitions C:\ & D:\. C:\ Is of course OS and 100GB large used spc is 16GB D:\ is 470GB used spc is 93GB . OS is Win XP SP3

Thanks

 

[KSoD]

Check the dates of the files. They will tell you the last date modified to tell you the last time it was accessed. Easiest way.

There are tons of software out there. You have to find one that you like. Everyone finds it easier to use different methods and frankly, trying to backup to a DVD is pointless. You would be better off getting a External drive.

 

[WasTech]

Yea I mentioned D Mod . I'm getting nowhere and I don't want to copy files twice. I also don't want to miss anything. Will any of the programs for backing up work for what I'm trying to do or are they just for what I would save on comp today? Will SyncToy work for what I want to do? Or am I stuck with what I've been doing and what you mentioned?

Thanks


Thanks

 

[S0ULphIRE]

I would suggest backing up everything to an external hdd, then setting up an incremental backup. What that will do is automatically copy across new files to the backup drive however often you want.

It's much easier than using DVDs, and hdds cost so little these days.

 

[Osiris]

You can use SyncBack, its free

2BrightSparks | Downloads

 

[Jayce]

You can use SyncBack, its free

2BrightSparks | Downloads

Highly recommended.

I use SyncBack on all of the XP boxes at home to auto-backup everybody's documents to my linux box every night at 3 am.

SyncToy is really nice too, but it doesn't support scheduling. Some people prefer to back up "whenever they want to" which is one area SyncToy is nice.

For scheduling, SyncBack is the way to go.

 

[WasTech]

Ok,

I'm slowly getting it done. I've dled snycback to. I'm looking into ext HD now what are you guys useing? I'm looking at a Rosewell case and useing a internal HD inside of it. At this time I only need about 300GB to bu al my stuff. Although I would like to get at least around 500GB HD. The thing I liked about DVD's is most of them last longer than HD's.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Get a bigger hdd than you think you'll need. Trust me, space goes fast. It only costs about 95 bucks over here for a terabyte drive, so it's not like you're splurging a ton of cash either. I'd recommend 500Gb as a minimum.

 

[Jayce]

Get a bigger hdd than you think you'll need. Trust me, space goes fast. It only costs about 95 bucks over here for a terabyte drive, so it's not like you're splurging a ton of cash either. I'd recommend 500Gb as a minimum.

Also agreed.

Considering it's always "just a few bucks more" to go to the next size HDD, it's hard to walk away from a big fat drive when it's just a few dollars more.

 

[WasTech]

Agree about space. How bout the HD itself like I asked. Should I get a true ext HD or go with case with internal HD? what drives do the cases work with,only SATA or IDE also?