Play It Safe: Back Up Files

And you know, IT ALWAYS DOES! It could be hardware or software. But it will happen.

Here's an easy back up plan. It's really a two-pronged approach. The first prong is to make an image of your system that consists only of your system files, applications, and registry. Basically, it will be a DVD image (or an image stored on a remote server, that contains everything you need if you have to rebuild your computer, RIGHT NOW.

I'll show you how to do that on this page called

Create A Disk Image of Your System Files

The second prong is to create a backup of all your critical data (data you cannot or will not be able to recreate). You can do this using Windows' built-in utilities, like NT Backup, the Windows Scheduler, Notepad, and simple batch files.

I'll show you how to do that here, on a page called

How To Back Up Your Data Files

You only need to make one image file of your system and applications. This will be your "base." If (when) you need to rebuild your system after a catastrophic failure, you can use this image and its boot disk.

Restore your system to "as new" condition, then get all the security patches from Microsoft and updates for your applications.

Then, restore your data from the saved .bkf file(s) you made in the second prong of this approach.

Finally, automate the data backup process by using Windows' built-in scheduler.

Remember, back up your files!

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