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Windows Backup Software

The Backup programs in Windows 98 and Windows Me where originally created by Seagate Software, now Veritas. They are relatively simple but, not surprisingly considering their origin, work well with removable magnetic media such as tapes and floppy discs. As these programs come free with Windows 98 and Windows Me, they are ideal for a low-cost data backup strategy.

Although these backup programs were developed before the widespread availability of CD-RW drive and are incapable of media spanning, they can be used for CD-R and CD-RW backups if you do not need to backup up more than about 600MB at a time.

Using Windows Backup

To run Backup in Windows98 or Me, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then select 'Backup'. Alternatively right-click the hard drive icon in Windows Explorer, select Tools, then 'Backup'. To actually backup your files, select 'Create a New Backup Job', then 'Backup Selected Files', and select the folders you want to backup from the list. If this is first time you create a backup job, select 'All Selected Files'. For subsequent backup jobs choose 'New and Changed Files Only' .

If you are backing up to a CD-RW drive, you should first format your disc with DirectCD or similar software, but do not enable compression during the formatting. When you select files for backup, make sure that they will fit on the media and specify a File on the CD-RW drive as the target for the backup.

Your selection of settings under 'Options' can make a big difference to the completion time of your backup. You can opt to Never compress the data, Compress to save time, or Maximize compression to save space. If time is an issue you can turn off the 'verify' option during the backup. Verify compares contents on the hard disk with the backed-up data, which doubles the time taken without a measurable improvement in the backup integrity.

Possible Drawbacks with Using Windows Backup

The first possible drawback with Windows 98/Me Backup is its lack of media spanning ability. Backing up a large folder to CD-R or CD-RW means that you have to create multiple backup jobs no larger than the capacity of the discs. The second is if you upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Me to Windows XP. The backup programs in Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional are not compatible with Windows 98 or Windows Me, this can cause problems if you want to move data backed-up by Windows 98 or Me to a system running Windows XP.

Transferring Windows 98/Me Backups to XP

As Windows 98 and Windows Me Backup were both developed by Veritas, it is possible to use the commercialy available Veritas Backup Exec software to restore your Windows 98 or Me backups to a Windows XP system. The latest version sold for home or small office use is called Back Up My PC, and it supports Windows 98SE, Windows NT 4 with SP 4, Windows 2000 Workstation, Windows Me, and Windows XP.