Extremely easy backup solution.

[Poppa_Meth]

My boss's wife asked me to set up a backup system for her home computers. She does the store accounting on the same PC she let's her 6 year old grandson play all his games on. Not a good combination. She isn't computer friendly at all so I'm looking for the easiest solution for her. At the store I run manual backups to an external HDD using Acronis TI9. I think even that may be over kill for her. Any suggestions on the most PC idiot friendly option would be appreciated.

[greymalkin]

- Is this a backup as far as ghost images or just backing up their files?
- Is this something she wants to be able to run at her convenience or should it be automated to run at X intervals?
- Will she be backing up to an external hard drive/usb drive or a cd/dvd?

You can make a very simple backup .bat file using robocopy (assuming they are using a windows machine). Robocopy will do incremental backups and even has a /MIR switch that will sync the source/destination directories (it will only copy over files that have changed since last backup, but it will also delete files on the dest. that were deleted in the source).

You just have to know which folders she puts her data in..if she just uses program defaults most everything will probably be in my documents.

a .bat file would look something like this:

************************************************** *************
echo off
cls
echo THIS WILL BACKUP ALL YOUR STUFF
echo PLEASE CLOSE ALL OTHER PROGRAMS BEFORE YOU CONTINUE
echo
pause
cls
robocopy "c:\documents and settings\<user id>\my documents" "X:\backup" /R:3 /W:10 /MIR /LOG:\backup\BackupLog.txt
cls
echo BACKUP COMPLETE!
echo
pause
************************************************** **************

this will alert the user the backup is about the happen and prompt them to press any key to continue.
The robocopy command is copying from the my documents folder to a backup drive, called drive X. The switches, in order, tell robocopy to do the following:
retry up to 3 times if there is a problem copying.
Wait 10 seconds between retries
Create a mirror image of the source directory
Create a log file of the transaction on the X backup directory

[yoda313]

Here's a place to start:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8748215&st=hard+drive&lp=7&type=product&...=1202649423485

Product Features
500GB maximum storage capacity
High-speed USB 2.0, eSATA and FireWire 400 interfaces
Maximum data transfer rates up to 3 Gbps via eSATA, up to 480 Mbps via USB 2.0 and up to 400 Mbps via FireWire
32MB cache buffer
7200 rpm for fast read/write times
8.5 ms average seek time
Automatic data backup and updating functions; allows data transfer to multiple locations, including connected devices and online digital photo accounts
Store drive contents on your own online storage space (6-month Seagate Internet Drive subscription included)
Revert to previous operating system settings without affecting saved digital media
Encryption software for secure access to your personal data
PC and Mac compatible
Includes USB 2.0 cable, FireWire cable, power adapter, FreeAgent software CD-ROM and quick-start guide

-------------------------------------------------
it's a seagate and says it has automatic data backup.

I'm sure there are many many external drives that will have an automated backup option.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

Karenware
Replicator
FREE!
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

[SingSing]

It is better to tell her get a $400 laptop to do her accounting, then deal with the day that she ask you to restore the backup, and found out the backup did not work. That's almost always happened. It will always be your fault at that point, and you are going to get to trouble that you don't need.

My office PCs, Lab PCs and laptops are all backup over network, and to auto external USB drive. They always fail when you want the backup. Device/Application claim they can automate backup are mostly unreliable.

She has to bring the laptop to do you for manual backup. This is a nice way to tell your boss, business should be treated as business.

[folkboat]

A possible solution would be to run a backup program when the system shuts down.

We use the program "second copy" to backup: quicken , email, address books, new video or audio files etc............. to an external USB drive. When our laptops power down "second copy" backs up changes to the specific file.

We are not a data center - downed system is not the end of the world (probably end up reloading the operating system anyway) its the DATA we have created I want to back up.

Anyway just anothe opinion!!

Regards

[lordhutt]

Karenware
Replicator
FREE!
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

Been using this for years. Simple and effective!!
Can easily set up to copy any new or changed files.

[Po|arbeaR]

I use a program for my businesses called backup easy.Its an open source program and it's fantastically easy to use and setup. Javascript based it'll run at startup and you can set a daily/weekly/monthly backup either to a local/network/flash drive or via ftp.
Once it's setup the user doesn't even need to touch it. It does everything on its own.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/bueasy

-PB

[Poppa_Meth]

Thanks for all the input. I was going to set her up to run backups on demand once a month, right after she does quickbooks. I've had her backing up the company files to a pen drive for quite a while now. It seems like every time something happens though she "forgot" to do the backup that particular time. The real kicker is, the boss just bought her a new laptop last year for just this purpose, and she doesn't even use it. She still uses the crapped out old desktop. If she'd just come into the store and do this stuff instead of at home (we do have an accounting PC just for this) I could run a backup system myself on that machine.

I'd like to do a complete image backup once a month, but honestly at this point I'm not sure that's even worth it. This PC is so loaded with junk software, I doubt I'd want to restore the whole thing anyway.

[ahhaa]

This is a typical situation, I know many others are in the same boat...
one story:
Boss Blowhard had gotten a geek to set them up with a tape drive, and were backing up entire computers to multiple rotating cartridges, it took hours; but nobody ever checked them for usability; and they were kept in a drawer right next to the computer (ready for theft, fire, or flood).

All that needs to be backed up is the current data files, right? They should be pretty small unless you are GM or something.

If its one of those damn proprietary accounting programs, you might have a prob, but it should be easy to automate 'copy the data files to a briefcase self updating folder'.

You are fine with the flash drive, the real problem is her unsafe accounting practices. (You'd want a locked CD version every quarter so a potentially infected machine couldn't modify the files.)

I'd solve this by memo- offering to set up the laptop 'just how you want it' & using a user password for the accounting desktop in case the grandkids get at the machine.