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Data Backup to a Second Pc

If you have just upgraded your PC, and are wondering what to do with the old one, consider using it to store your data backups. This has many advantages; hard drives are fast, have high capacity, and by using this method it is already installed in a second computer so you can continue working if main system is out of action.

As nearly every PC has room for two hard drives so it it may be worth adding a second refurbished drive; this extra capacity will allow you keep a complete image of your main PCs hard drive.

For the ultimate security, consider RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive (some say independent)Drives, a system that spreads data across two or more drives. To keep costs realistic use RAID 1, where the same data is mirrored across two drives using either a software or hardware controller. Though RAID costs more than a standard hard drive, it will ensure that a single-disk failure doesn't wipe you out.

Setting up Another Computer for Your Data Backup

Assuming that you have the necessary network cards installed and your wires plugged in, getting your PCs to see each other means you will have to run Windows network setup wizard on both PCs. Go to Control Panel, choose Network and Internet Connections, then Set Up or Change Your Home or Small Office Network. In most case you can just accept the Windows default prompts. Give the same workgroup name to both of your computers - MSHOME is the default. If you are not running Windows XP on both of your computers, you may need to create a setup disk to use on the non-XP one.

Make sure you enable shared access to folders being backed up, do this by finding the folders you want to back up, and then drag them across to the Shared Documents folder.

What to Include in a Data Backup

Once you have got it up and running you need to decide what you want to back up. In Windows, almost all your data files are stored in My Documents by default, but you may also have important files in c:\downloads and it is a good idea to back up your system registry.

Depending on your level of computer activity, once a week is about right to do a full data backup. This can be a compressed or an uncompressed copy. A compressed copy takes up less space, but an uncompressed copy can be read by almost any computer. It is also possible to make incremental data backups that only the data that has changed since the last backup.

For a higher level of security, use another method of data backup so that you can take your media offsite, to a friend or colleagues house for instance. Make an annual full data backup to CD or DVD, from then make weekly or monthly incremental backups. As an alternative to this, you could consider online data backup. There is usually a fee for this, but it does get your data offsite and has no media costs.