Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
Disaster RecoveryIt is not a question of “if”, but “when” you will have to rebuild
your computer. There are so many things that can happen; the
drive could have been marginal when it was manufactured; a surge
from a nearby lightening strike; a virus; or something stupid was
done; let me count the ways.One area of extreme importance, are your drivers. – those nifty
little pieces of software that make the hardware on your computer
work properly.. If your system does go “kaflooey”, and you need
to redo your system, one of the most frustrating parts o f the
job is to locate and reload all those drivers.What you need is a program to back up the files for you. One such
program is called Drivers Guide Toolkit. You can download the
trial version at: http://www.jermar.com/wdrvbck.htm which gives
you a 2 day free trial (It takes only a few minutes to complete
the back up process). If you wish to keep it beyond the trial
period it costs $19.95, but the bottom line is that you can get
everything you need done within the trial period.It finds all the non-Microsoft drivers on your system (You don’t
need the Microsoft Drivers as they are installed automatically)
and then queries the web and downloads the software for these
drivers. I recommend that you copy these drivers to a CD or
floppy, and keep them in a safe place.Most of us basically have three types of software on our
computer. The first came with the computer, the second we
purchased and have the “Install CDs”, and the third we downloaded
from the web. One and Two are usually not a problem as we have
the CDs and can easily reinstall them.Most of us, at one point or another download programs from the
web. Losing your “Install” programs can be a huge problem. Some
of the gurus say you can delete them after the software is
installed Phooey! A program can become corrupted and must be
reinstalled.Can you imagine if you ever lost them? Where would you go to get
them? While you probably could, it would be a real time consuming
chore.If you are short on disc space, and have them backed up to
external media, you can then safely delete them from your
computer. You don’t have a CD burner that you can copy data to
you say. Have you ever heard the term “penny wise and pound
foolish.”I recommend that you set up a folder called “Downloads” - hey
that’s original. <G> But wait - if you loose your hard
drive, you’re going to loose that folder as well. Back that
folder up to a disc or CD and keep it in a safe place as well.And don’t forget, if you get a new off the shelf computer, in
regard to these Install Files, you are starting at square one.
Nuff said about that...Finally, there are the data files on your computer that you
create. Since we all use our systems differently there really is
no easy answer. Let me share with you what I do, and some of it
might make sense for you.In my email, there is not a whole lot that I would really miss if
it were lost, but there are some things. These I maintain in a
separate folder called “Action”. If something is important such
as a receipt or important correspondence, I move it to that
mailbox.I also created a folder on my computer called ”Data Backup”, and
use this to store things such as forms, letterheads, and billing
statements in a sub-folder within that folder. My rule of thumb
is how long it took to create the document in the first place.
If it only takes a few minutes, I don’t back it up. If it took
more than that, I do.The rest of the “stuff” that I think is important gets shoved
into this backup folder as well. If you’re creating a document on
your word processor that you don’t want to lose, in addition to
saving it where you normally do, pop a copy into your back up
folder as well.I copy all these to a CD once a week. There is also a D: drive on
my computer, and once a week when I go through the entire backup
process, I copy everything from the C: drive to D: as well. That
alone should suffice you might think, but there are things that
can happen that will also wipe out all the information on all
your hard drives. The risk of losing everything simply isn’t
worth it.If all you really do is surf the web and correspond with friends
and family via email, the data backup isn’t so terribly vital.
But at least back up your “Drivers” and any software you may have
downloaded from the web. And always keep a separate record of
any passwords or “unlock” keys for your software in a safe place.Believe me, this little extra effort on your part can well be
worth the effort if you ever do have a problem. If you don’t
have a disaster recovery plan, you will face a lot of heartache,
lost time and unnecessary expense.-----
Bob has been publishing online since 1996. All the “tricks of the trade” are contained in his latest E-book. Learn how to avoid being shut down by your ISP for Spamming, and where to find “E-mail friendly ISP's. Learn which software packages are available to easily manage and distribute your email. For more information - http://www.adv-marketing.com/business/handbook.htm
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