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New Computer, General Questions


craigwg
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Hi all,

I just bought a new computer. I havn't done that in years. I bought a NICE system and I have some specific goals in mind. I thought I'd get some input from experts though, so here I am!

The computer is a NewEgg.com purchase, Quad Core, 3.2 Ghz, 8 GB memory, 1 TB hard drive with Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit. It should arive TODAY in the mail!

This computer will be used primarily for photo editing and storage for a business, as well as some video editing as well as general Websurfing, some Web design and random odds and ends (you KNOW I'll be doing some serious minesweeping from time to time!). The photo editing business is why this is important. My wife and I edit photos in Photoshop CS3 (Sometimes 7.0 too) and the photos are for clients and can not be lost.

So, what I need is a stellar plan for data backup. I also want to be able to nuke everything and reimage whenever I want without losing any data or programs. So my plan is to build an ideal image, and then somehow mirror select folders (My documents, etc) for some kind of automated back up (once per night or something). How do I do this? I've been trying to research programs and I've found a few. I want to have a very fast and very secure system that is easy to use and doesn't do too much, but also takes advantage of my TB drive. I am planning on also buying a TB external drive to mirror to.

What advice can you give a guy on these matters?

Thanks!

Craig

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Ensure that you always have at least one backup on another drive apart from the main "C" drive. I work on a rotating basis of 3 backups (requiring three hard drives but, they aren't expensive these days).

For regular (hourly or so) backups of folders - such as My Documents and the contained files - I use 2nd Copy http://www.centered.com/

Not free but there is a free trial to assess its usefulness. I've used it for years and find it invaluable.

Backups are especially important for business computers for fiscal and legal reasons.

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I have found Acronis to be excellent. A little tricky to understand at first, but easy when you get the knack. My daughter bought me a Western digital 80GB plug in hard drive a couple of years ago, for about £80. A few months ago I paid the same for a Toshiba 1TB drive. They are getting cheaper and cheaper. Have a look at Play.com. I also bought a couple of memory sticks from them dirt cheap. :D

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