[Hidden-tech] Back Up software?

[Jonathan Dill]

DAVID F. FARKAS wrote:
> Just bought an external hard drive to back up data. Windows used to 
> have a simple backup program included but XP does not.
Windows XP Home Edition does not include the backup program.  Windows XP 
Professional Edition *should* include the backup program, it's possible 
that the "Windows Component" for it is not installed, or you have some 
OEM version of Windows XP Pro that does not include it for some reason, 
call tech support for the vendor to complain about it maybe they can 
help you.  You could buy the upgrade from XP Home to XP Pro, but it's 
probably cheaper to just buy Ghost.
> Can anyone recommend a freeware or cheapware backup program. Bonus 
> points if you know of a 'ghost' hard drive image freeware.

Not for the technically faint of heart, but if you have any idea how to 
use a Linux LiveCD I can give you some suggestions (such as partimage 
from a KNOPPIX CD).  For the average user, however, I would not trust 
such a solution 100%.  If you're not experienced with Linux stuff and 
you end up needing to restore some day, you may well end up paying 
double in lost time etc. fooling around trying to get the restore to 
work than if you had just paid to buy some backup software in the first 
place.

If you have a network with a Linux computer on it, I recommend BackupPC 
for convenient, web-based restore of files / folders, but you still need 
something like ghost for complete disaster recovery.  Also, you need a 
bit of Linux savvy to set it up.

http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

If you are going to buy an external hard drive to do backups, you might 
look into getting one that comes bundled with ghost type software.  If 
you are backing up more than one computer, you might look at some of the 
new, network-attached devices that are available.

Jonathan