First Build Backup Help

[Varalis]

     Hi, I'm going to be building my very first computer. I have done a lot of research but haven't had clear answers on backing up. I want to back up everything onto an external hard disc drive that I can occasionally plug in to back up any new changes. But how does backing up work? Will an external hard drive save the OS? If my normal drive fails, how do I put everything onto a new drive? Do I need to get another OEM OS to install onto the new HDD even if I have the same motherboard? If I get a new motherboard but same HDD will I have to install a new OS and have basically 2 OS's on it? I am just confused on how backing up works and OEM OS's in "what if" circumstances, so any explanation for a beginner PC builder would be great!

[samcool55]

Well if you just use a hard drive, and an external one, just put the important things like photo's video's, etc etc on the external one as backup now and then.

If the OS goes wonky, i just reinstall it if the backup i have made is enough. If not, i connect my hdd to another pc and backup what i want of it.

You can just connect hdd's to other pc's without problems, it will just work, unless the hdd itself is broken of course.

It's like a big USB stick

 

If you install a new OS, you can format your hdd's first, which means making them completely empty so you can install on an hdd that's completely empty, so no 2 OS's or stuff like that.

[Varalis]

     So if a HDD fails and you have a backup of it, do you need to reinstall Windows on a new HDD or does Windows save on an external drive? Sorry, didn't clarify, I am going to save everything onto the external drive which is why I'm asking about the OS.

[aahrg]

You can set up your backup to go anywhere. I personally have my SSD set to backup to a NAS drive, and I will be adding another backup onto my internal HDD when I get one. Windows backup can be hard to get working, but there is plenty of software that makes it easy.

[Captain_WD]

     Hi, I'm going to be building my very first computer. I have done a lot of research but haven't had clear answers on backing up. I want to back up everything onto an external hard disc drive that I can occasionally plug in to back up any new changes. But how does backing up work? Will an external hard drive save the OS? If my normal drive fails, how do I put everything onto a new drive? Do I need to get another OEM OS to install onto the new HDD even if I have the same motherboard? If I get a new motherboard but same HDD will I have to install a new OS and have basically 2 OS's on it? I am just confused on how backing up works and OEM OS's in "what if" circumstances, so any explanation for a beginner PC builder would be great!

 

 

Hey Varalis,

 

There are a number of ways to back up your data. You can do that to a directly connected drive (simple external storage drive or a DAS) or over the network to a local (NAS) or a public cloud. You can also configure your backups to be on certain files or folders, backups of your OS or a complete copy of your system. You can have different complete backups or just one that gets updated at certain time intervals. 

 

I would suggest looking into system image as it creates a snapshot of your whole system and you can restore it via a system repair disk during a OS instalation if your system happens to crash. Here's a link with more info: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/system-restore

 

You can also use a backup software to manage your backups. I could suggest checking out WD SmartWare as it offers a number of features and types of backup. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=PFyM9Z

 

Do have in mind that for a complete and safe backup it is required that the drive that stores your backup must be unplugged from your system in order to be safe during power failures and shortage. RAID solutions offer redundancy but they are not considered a backup.

 

Captain_WD.

[Varalis]

Thanks that was extremely helpful!