Making a back up disc.

[stephec]

Every now and then I get a box popping up and asking me to make a recovery disc.

Now I know this is probably a good idea, but not being the brightest when it comes to IT could someone tell me -

1) why I should

2) how do I do it.


Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

[compo]

1) it will allow you to restore your system should you suffer a major catastrophe

2) the pop up will probably lead you to the instructions.

I wonder if you have a newish system where the manufacturer installs the operating system (Windows) and any other system files in a partition on the hard drive. It is customary to create a set of discs from this partition to give you a permanent system back up should your hard drive become corrupt or fail.

 

[stephec]

It's a six month old Dell laptop with Windows 8.

So if I create it does it store all my music/photos, or just enough to restore it to a working condition?

 

[compo]

I would say no, it wont save your photos and files. Your restore discs will only restore the computer to the state it left the factory, with the associated drivers. I don't know Windows 8 but saving your pictures and personal files is generally just a matter of copying them to your cd/dvd drive. The main advice I would give is never keep anything on your hard drive that you cannot afford to lose.

There is software with which you can back up your entire hard drive that will save everything on it and restore it when necessary but more computer savvy people on here could advise you on that far better than I can.

 

[ushills]

I would recommend an external hard drive to back up to or jungledisk or similar to back up in the cloud.

A loss of data is a traumatic event.

 

[PaulSB]

You need, really should have, two different things here.

Recovery discs which as said above will restore your system to its original condition. These are also useful should you decide you want to clean up your machine. You can format the HD and then use the recovery discs to give you a nice clean restore free of all the junk which accumulates.

Making them is simple. You'll need 3-4 DVDs and some patience as takes a while. Windows 8 will have a routine for you to follow.

Secondly you need a backup system for your files, photos etc. Use either a Cloud facility or an external HD. There are plenty of software programmes which will run a regular backup routine for you. If you use an external HD try to keep it somewhere other than your house which is where I presume the PC is. If you buy an HD get the largest capacity available.

You'll probably never have reason to use either of the above. If you do it's a very satisfying feeling to be able to replace everything that was on a dead machine!!

 

[stephec]

Thanks guys.

 

[marknotgeorge]

You should be able to create your recovery partition on a USB stick, which may be more robust than a bunch of DVDs.

 

[ian turner]

You should be able to create your recovery partition on a USB stick, which may be more robust than a bunch of DVDs.

You should make a backup of the image and makesure you have an off site copy . USB sticks have their weaknesses , I currently have a works one in my wallet that I found I'd left in my pocket last night but forgot to remove from my wallet this morning.

 

[stephec]

I tried last night, it only took one disc for a recovery disc.

I'll have a go at back ups on a USB stick tonight.