New HDD, Customer Support, and Backups

[nbd2]

Hey all,

So recently, I had to send my HDD back to PCS for repair/replacement. Because Irish post can be quite slow, it only arrived at PCS the other day, but so far, technical support have been great (I had to call them before I sent it off), so thats a +1 for PCS anyway. In the mean time, I picked up a Seagate Momentus 720Gb Hybrid Drive. I've only started the task of putting my stuff back on it, currently installing Autocad, so I'm only on the A's! Anyway, I've also learnt my lesson on backing up my drive/data. I was foolish enough not to have my files backed up, no restore points, nothing like that. So, I've invested in an external hard drive that I plan on using as a backup, in case something goes wrong again. I was just wondering if someone could point me in the right direction on what way I should go about these things. So I've a couple of little questions:
1. How often should I create system restore points, and do I put them on an external drive too?
2. How often should I backup my files to the external drive, and is there an easy way to do this?
3. My AV (Norton 360) has various little features that I don't really buy into (like system settings protection, pc tune up etc), ideas/opinions on this kinda stuff?

I thought I knew about these things, but I feel so fragile after my drive died. hahaha!

Cheers,
N

 

[Lappygamer]

i must do this also no back up yet! i will keep a eye on this thread as i would like to know the answers to your questions too! cheers

 

[forbiddenloli]

Hey all,

So I've a couple of little questions:
1. How often should I create system restore points, and do I put them on an external drive too?
2. How often should I backup my files to the external drive, and is there an easy way to do this?
3. My AV (Norton 360) has various little features that I don't really buy into (like system settings protection, pc tune up etc), ideas/opinions on this kinda stuff?

Cheers,
N

I backup my laptop every month (a 250gb image) onto a 1tb hdd, with one "master" backup from when windows was first installed and 3 incremental backups which the oldest is replaced with the newest each month
windows backup allows you to select which folders to backup, so I would advise to backup all system files and installations onto one hard drive and have a second hard drive (like your original hdd) to act as a backup for personal files which I would backup each week
as for system restores I would only have 2, again the master backup and one backup to act as a "restore to last good configuration" option
Hope this helps

As for norton, I'll be as impartial as I can here since I utterly detest norton. Any free antivirus which has a decent reputation, such as AVG, Avast and even Microsoft's own security essentials can provide sufficient protection against viruses, as for which to choose that is personal preference. If you want to pay for an antivirus make sure to research that program thoroughly to see if it will have a detrimental effect on system performance ("cough" Norton "cough") - you will NOT get better protection from virus "A" "B" or "C" because you paid for it - removing the virus may be easier or better but by law an antivirus has to be updated asap if a new virus definition is discovered.

While It is your choice, be careful if you do decide to change antivirus since during the time you don't have an antivirus, your pc will be vulnerable if connected to the internet

I hope this makes sense and really this is all your choice

Edit Forgot to mention you could set up windows backup (or any other backup program) to backup specific folders on a schedule