Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

Transcription

1 Chapter Introduction... 2 Section A Best Practices... 3 Section B Backing up your information... 5 What to backup:... 5 How to install the Backup program Running a Backup Backing up your dial-up internet settings Backing up Outlook Backing up Outlook Express Backing up your Internet Explorer Favorites Backing up the Registry Backing up Windows XP: Backing up in Windows 9x: Scheduling automatic backups: Running Incremental Backups in Windows XP Running Incremental or Differential Backups in Windows ME Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

2 Chapter 1 Introduction Throughout this book you will see a sequence similar to the following. Start Run Msconfig. This is how I have attempted to abbreviate my typing. Start is the Start button in the lower left corner of your monitor. In this example you would next select the Run option listed in the menu that appears after clicking on Start, (as in the example screen shot below) since the only option is a blank dialog box you would type in Msconfig (as in the 2 nd screen shot below). Other options might be leading you to go to the Programs selection and then to open the Accessories menu (Start Programs Accessories). Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

3 You will also notice some abbreviations that I use. They can be found at the back of the book under the Acronyms section. Section A Best Practices There are certain accepted best practices for working on computers, including: Preparing for the unexpected by backing up data and recording configurations. Turning off and unplugging all related equipment. Using the appropriate tool for the job. Doing what you can to reduce the risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD). Most CD and DVD drives come with a small hole in front, which is the emergency eject button. A paper clip can do wonders in removing a stuck CD, but in the hand of a child or someone who doesn t know how to properly eject, it can spell disaster if the drive is active, those disk are spinning at hundreds of RPM and can easily fling into someone causing serious injury or death so be very careful. Post-it notes are a great revolution. They make short notes small, they make bookmarks obsolete and allow color in the workplace, however Post-its do not belong on CDs or floppies. That is what the CD case and labels are for. People tend to forget or not pay attention and insert disk into their drives with the Post-its on them. Don t stick Post-its over the Reset or Power button on you computers case. Sticking them on the computer s front panel is fine, just don t stick them over the Reset button. In time, someone, maybe even you, will eventually presses the Reset button while pointing at or retrieving the Post-it. With the floppy disk came the floppy label and it has been the curse of many people ever since. Do not layer floppy disk or CD labels. Floppy and CD drives offer a narrow space for a disk to be inserted. Do not to keep sticking new labels on top of the old ones. Multiple layers on the disk can cause it to become jammed in the drive, resulting in lost data and damaged or replaced drive. Do not insert disks or CDs if the labels are loose. Reattach or remove those loose labels. Otherwise, they can tear off in the drive and result in a jam or an entirely new drive. Do not leave floppies or CDs in bags or purses. Bags and purses sit in cars that are out in the sun. A heat-warped CD is a ticket to a damaged CD-ROM drive, even if it s just a little warped. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

4 While I am on my soapbox, do not create too many Windows nested folders. These are the folders that are in other folders that are in other folders. Some people tend to create many subfolders or nested folders in Windows. Keep nested folders at a manageable number which is definitely less than eight. Do not place stereo speakers or your jam box near the monitor. Those purple and green thingies on your monitor screen is due to magnetic interference from speakers. Speakers built just for PCs should be fine so go ahead and buy the surround sound 7.1 system for your PC. Don t plug your floor heater into your battery backup (UPS) or Surge protector, and keep it away from the computer, this is another cause for screen flicker and random (as when the heater kicks on) happenings on computers. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

5 Section B Backing up your information Nobody wants to lose the pictures of Aunt Joan in the Caribbean or the Music they scavenged in the days of Napster. Those letters to Cousin Billy Bob and the Great American Novel you have been working on since fourth grade all deserve a little security so back them up. Maybe you have never had a hard disk fail or an important document scramble just before the big presentation but I bet the odds are if you ask around you will find someone who has lived through the horror. Even though backing up files takes some time and a little effort to begin with it is something that you should make as common as brushing your teeth. If you have important data that changes daily, share a PC with others or just feel like Fox Mulder ( Trust No-one ) then you can mirror your data. Mirroring has nothing to do with primping your hair but it is another techie term for an exact duplicate of another object. The best way to achieve this is to set up Windows Task Scheduler to run a backup file each day. This way you will always know that The truth is out there. Before you backup you should create or update the Boot Disk or Emergency Repair Disk. Every computer should have a boot disk and every NT machine should have an Emergency Repair Disk. You should label and date the disk to prevent you or someone else from accidentally overwriting it. Windows 9x (95, 98, 98SE, ME) computers also need to have their start disks updated (Start Settings Control Panel choose Add/Remove Programs Select the Startup Disk tab and choose Create Disk). Win2k computers ERD is created by going to the Backup utility and selecting Emergency Repair Disk. Start Programs Accessories Backup then choose the Emergency Repair Disk button. Windows NT computers need to have their emergency repair disks (ERD) upgraded with the RDISK /S command every time there's a change in the network or computer (Software or Hardware) setup, such as the addition of new users or new devices. To do this go to Start Run Command at the command prompt type in rdisk/s and answer the two questions. It really is that simple. Windows XP does not have such an option. What to backup: Everything in the My Documents folder. Microsoft documents and files end with some of the following extensions.doc,.rtf,.xls,.csv,.ppt,.pps,.pub,.dot,.mic,.dba,.mdb,. mpp. Quicken and QuickBooks files end with.q98,.q99,.qba,.qbb.qbw and.qdf. Many internet downloaded documents are in the portable document format and end with.pdf these are also known as Adobe Acrobat documents. A few documents still use the.txt extension while others will have.htm or.html as the extension. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

6 Pictures tend to end with the.bmp,.gif,.png,.tiff,.jpeg or.jpg extension. Downloads Programs from the internet, some of these are compressed and end with.zip or they should have the.exe or.bat extension. Music generally has a.wav,. mp3,.cda,.ogg,.aiff. Short Movies have.mpg,.mpeg,.avi,.wmv,.mov extensions. Driver upgrades/updates. Internet settings/dial-up settings..dun Passwords. Personal Address Books (the extensions consist of.pst,.ost,.pab,.wab,.wa~). Outlook and Outlook Express files (the extension consist of.dbx,.idx,.mbx). The Windows Registry. The above is not an all inclusive list of file extensions. I have not listed Real Player music and video file extensions, Microsoft Money extensions, QuickTime movies or any list of numerous others. There are several great web sites that give very in-depth list some are as well as and finally To find the files with the extensions listed above and / or the specific files that you have or use go to the Search or Find utility and you need to be sure to search all of the drives on your computer. In Windows 95, 98 and NT go to Start Find Files or Folders as in figure 1-A. Once you click on Files or Folders you will see figure 1-B, be sure that the Look in: section has you C: drive, see the example, if it is not listed, use the drop down arrow to navigate to it. Under the Named section you should enter the extension(s) of the files you are searching for such as *.wab, *.pab, *.doc. Notice that you can enter just one extension or multiple extensions to decrease the time it takes to select all files. If you wish to enter multiple extensions simple place a comma and a space between the names just like listed above. Figure 1-C is and example taken from Windows ME. The asterix (*) represents everything. So you are searching for everything with the extension.wab (all of the Windows Address Books) for example. Now click on Find Now to begin the search. Figure 1-A Figure 1-B Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

7 If you have Windows ME go to Start Search then click one time on For Files or Folders (figure 1-C). Under Search for files or folders named: (figure 1-D) enter the extension(s) of the files you are searching for such as *.xls, *.mp3, *.dun. Notice that you can enter just one extension or multiple extensions to decrease the time it takes to select all files. If you wish to enter multiple extensions simple place a comma and a space between the names just like listed above. Figure 1-E is an enlarged example taken from Windows ME. Now click on the Search Now button (located in the lower area of the left column) to begin the search. Figure 1-C Figure 1-D Figure 1-E Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

8 If you have Windows 2000 or XP go to Start Search and click one time on Search (figure 1-F). Next you will look in the left hand column and click one time on All Files and folders (figure 1-G). Figure 1-F Figure 1-G A new window will appear. In the section labeled All or part of the file name (figure 1-H) enter the extensions you are looking for. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

9 Figure 1-H Make sure to put an asterix (*) before the extensions where applicable for example *.pub. To reduce the search time you can enter several types of files to look for at once, to do this simply place a comma and a space between the items you are searching for, an example would be *.doc, *.xls, *.pst without the quotes, figure 1-I is and example. In this example the computer would be searching for all files that are Microsoft Publisher (pub), Personal Address Book (PAB) and general text files (txt). Capitalization does NOT make a difference as you can see in the example. Figure 1-I Notice in figure 1-I that there are a lot of unnecessary files to backup. There are a lot of cookies that have the extension txt so if you want to back them up (after you have filtered out the ad and spy cookies) you should just copy that whole folder, also there are a lot of Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

10 readme.txt and license.txt files that you do not need to backup. Once you have found the files you need to backup, write down their location (the In Folder column) to get an idea where you need to backup later. Along with backing up these listed files, many programs have their own Export or Backup routine. I regularly use these and back up to a temporary backup folder. Later on in this chapter you will see how to do this for different programs in Microsoft. Where to backup: You should have a quick backup folder on your local hard drive for programs or databases that you are going to make modifications to. This location should be easy to remember and access in case of an "oops". One program that we will frequently change throughout this book is the registry. The temporary backup folder that I use is directly under the C:\ drive and I have named it Backup, cool name huh! To create this folder go to your Desktop (the screen that appears on your monitor when you first turn your computer on) there should be a picture (actually they are called icons) that has the text My Computer underneath it. Double-click on it. This opens the My Computer folder. Next you want to double-click on the C: drive to open it up. We need to make a folder named Backup to store some data in. To do this go to the Menu bar and select File New Folder. A new folder named New Folder appears. While the text box with the New Folder name is still blue, type in Backup then press the <Enter> key. There you have done it; you have created a new folder and named it. If you accidentally clicked elsewhere you need to right-click on the New Folder and select Rename from the choices and then type in the word Backup. While you are here I also suggest you create two additional folders under the C: drive and name them Downloads and Updates. We will use them later in the book and you will find them quite handy. The primary method of local backup for security should be an external hard drive (or a NAS Network Attached Storage device), 2nd internal hard drive, Zip disk, CD-R, DVD-R or CD-RW disk. You can use almost anything other than your hard drive. The most frequent component failure on a computer is the hard drive. I know that I have not mentioned a few other backup mediums like to tape, just use your imagination and surf the net for ideas. There are several types of backup programs available. Microsoft, Genie-Soft and Iomega all have a backup program. If you have been around computers a while and remember the old DOS days, then you can write your own backup routine. We are not going to go into that here. Fortunately with CD burners you can set up a disk to allow you to Copy to a file or folder from your hard drive to the CD disk. This is probably the cleanest most efficient way to make a backup. How to install the Backup program. Since this book is designed to get as much done while spending a little money as possible we are going to go through the Microsoft Backup utility. On most versions of Windows, it is not installed automatically. However, Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

11 it is on the Windows installation or Recovery disc. To see if the back routine is installed on your computer go to Start Programs (All Programs in XP) Accessories System Tools and see if Backup is listed, if it is not you will need to install it. Get out your Microsoft Windows disk and put it in your CD player. If your CD tries to run and install Windows simply cancel it out. If you bought a pre-built system (such as Hewlett Packard or Compaq) you might not have a separate Windows disk, it might be part of a System Recovery Disk or on a System Recovery Partition on your hard drive. If this is the case simply ignore the insert your disk part of the following text and continue on. Windows XP Home: Insert the installation (Windows XP) CD, when the installation logo comes up select the X in the upper right hand corner to close it out. Next you will need to open up Windows Explorer, to do this press the Windows key (located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on the keyboard) and the E key at the same time and then immediately release both of them. On the screen that appears navigate the left window pane by clicking on the + (plus) signs for the CD drive, then the VALUEADD MSFT NTBACKUP folders. Double click on NTBACKUP.MSI (listed on the right hand side) and run the wizard. Windows ME: Insert the installation (Windows ME) CD, when the installation logo comes up select the X in the upper right hand corner to close it out. Next you will need to open up Windows Explorer. To do this, go to Start Programs Accessories and click one time on Windows Explorer as in figure 1-J. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

12 Figure 1-J When the new window appears, go to the left window pane and click the + signs next to the CD drive (it should say Windows ME next to it, then keep clicking the + next to ADD-ONS and click one time on MSBackup, your screen should be similar to figure 1-K. Now in the right window pane double-click on msbexp.exe to install the backup utility and follow the installation wizard. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

13 Figure 1-K Windows 98: You should have the backup routine installed by default. To see, go to Start Programs Accessories System Tools, Backup should be listed there. If it is not, you will need to click Start Settings Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Select the Windows Setup tab. Scroll down to System Tools click one time on it and then select the Details button. Place a check mark in the box next to Backup then OK OK to exit. You will most likely need to place your Windows 98 disk in the CD drive. Windows 95: You should have the backup routine installed by default. To see, go to Start Programs Accessories System Tools, Backup should be listed there. If it is not, you will need to click Start Settings Control Panel. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Select the Windows Setup tab. Click on Disk Tools Details. Place a check mark in the box next to Backup then click on OK OK to exit. You will most likely need to place your Windows 95 disk in the CD drive. Running a Backup. Every version of Windows has a different routine. Wizards (a step by step walk through) take you through the backup process. We are using Windows XP and ME as our two examples, your version of Windows should be similar. Microsoft s Backup program gives you the choice of backing up everything or selected files. I would use the latter due to space constraints, backing up files listed at the beginning of this section. Windows backup utilities offers a really useful feature for helping you protect and back up your files on your computer: the ability to back up to a Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

14 file. This file is all of your backed up information squeezed into one file that takes up less room than having an exact duplicate of everything. When you back up to a file, you have the option of adding to or replacing the previous backup. If you choose to replace the backup, the program overwrites the previous data in the file. If you choose the append option, the backup routine adds to the file instead. The result over a period of time could be a really large backup file containing many multiples of the same data. I would also use the date to name the backup ( for July ). It just makes things easier if you need to recover the information. There are also several types of backup routines available. The most common are normal, copy, differential, incremental, and daily. A normal backup backs up each file and turns a setting (also called a switch) on the file to mark it as backed up. Think of a switch as a light switch, when a file is created the switch is in the off position. When the file is backed up the light (file in our case) is turned on. When you edit the file and save it the switch is set back to the off position just like when you leave the room and turn off the light. When a file or group of files are copied they are duplicated elsewhere but the setting (switch) is not changed. An incremental backup only backs up the files that have been added or changed since the last backup and turns the switch on. It does this by looking for switches that are off. A differential backup copies only the files that have been added or changed since the last backup but leaves the switch off. The daily backup only backs up files that were created or modified that day. Incremental backups will be discussed in more depth later on. I back up to a Windows Home Server in the office nightly and onto my NAS weekly. I also use Microsoft s Sync Toy to backup between the two Media Center computers and also between my laptop and desktop computer. Don t forget you can back up to a CD- RW, DVD-RW, a tape drive or another computer. There isn't much point in backing up to the hard drive you use all the time. The biggest danger to your data is hard drive failure. If your everyday hard drive fails, it will take your backups with it, so back up to it only to prevent data corruption, not as a permanent storage method. There are many settings not backed up automatically by the Windows Backup utility. The following paragraphs show you how to backup specific settings and data. Backing up your dial-up internet settings. Just drag all your connections from the Dial-Up Networking folder into a separate folder. Stick them in a folder called C:\Backup\DUN (It is always easy to remember to backup the My Documents and Backup folders; this makes it easy on you). You'll see that when you drag the files into the new folder they gain a.dun extension. You can double-click any of these DUN files to activate a connection and see its properties. This method doesn't always save your usernames or passwords (although it did when I tried it - I believe it depends on the version of Dial-Up Networking you're using), so make sure you have copies of those. Here it is, step by step: Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

15 1. Go under the backup folder you created earlier by double-clicking on My Computer C:\ Backup. Repeat the same process you did to make the Backup folder and label this one DUN for Dial up networking. Be sure you are inside the Backup folder. 2. Now you want to go and get your files that need to be backed up. If you look in the upper right corner of the My Computer screen you will see three boxes. I want you to click on the dash (-). The far right is an X which means to close the screen. The middle button either looks like a single box (square) or two boxes one on top of the other. By clicking one time on the single box you maximize the screen to take up almost the whole monitor (This is my preferred mode). By clicking one time on the double box you restore the screen to a smaller state. The left most symbol of the three looks like a dash (-), this is the minimize button. Clicking on it one time does not close the program it just moves the programs display to the bottom of your monitor on the Task Bar. To make the program viewable again simply move your mouse to it on the Task Bar and click one time. 3. Now you should be at the Desktop again. Simply go to Start Settings Control Panel. In Windows XP go to Start Control Panel Network and Internet Connections Internet Options. 4. Open the Dial-up networking folder by double-clicking Dial-up Networking. 5. Click one time on your DUN icons (the pictures of your internet icons in the new screen) the select Edit Copy to Folder 6. A new screen labeled Browse for Folder appears, use the scroll bar to go to the top of the list, click on the plus sign next to My Computer, then C:\ and then on Backup 7. Finally click one time on the DUN folder you created earlier. 8. Select OK to place copies into this folder Backing up Outlook Basically all you do is open Outlook and go to File Import/Export (Figure 1-L). Then new menu that appears allows you to Export to a File (Figure 1-M) then select Next. Figure 1-L Figure 1-M On the next screen choose Personal Folder File (.pst) (figure 1-N) and then select Next again. The new page (figure 1-O) will allow you to select what part of your to Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

16 backup, select Personal Folders and make sure that there is a check mark next to Include Subfolders and once again choose Next. Figure 1-N Figure 1-O On the next page (figure 1-P) select Browse and navigate to My Computer C: Backup (figure 1-Q) for the user you are logged on as then select a name for the backup at the bottom of figure 1-R and then select OK. Figure 1-P Figure 1-Q Once at figure 1-S double check your Options and then select Finish. Figure 1-R Figure 1-S You will have another window appear that will allow you to password protect the file if you desire (figure 1-T) after making your decision select OK, figure 1-U will appear and Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

17 when the backup is complete you will be back at the normal Outlook screen where you read your . Figure 1-T Figure 1-U Backing up Outlook Express First of all if you backed up the files listed on under What to Backup you should have saved the files needed, however you might have had many files with the same name under different folders, one for each separate OE Identity you have. Outlook Express uses files that end with.wab for the address book. It uses.dbx. idx and.mbx as the files, depending upon the version you are using. I highly recommend that you upgrade OE to the latest version (6 at the time of this writing). The upgrade is free from Microsoft. Go to Chapter 2 under the Updates for Windows section and run the critical updates, this will include the upgrade for OE6. Backing up OE is a multi step process and not nearly as neat or easy as backing up Outlook. Backing up your address book. Unlike Outlook, OE uses the standard Windows Address Book (WAB) for versions 5 and 6. There are different address books for each identity you have created. If you do not use multiple identities then things will be a little easier for you. You will need to open OE and then click on File from the menu bar and then Export from the drop down list (figure 1-V). Here you will have the choice to Export your Address Book or your Messages ( ). Click one time on Address Book. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

18 Figure 1-V You will be given only one way to export, a comma separated value (CSV) as shown in figure 1-W. This is great because you can import a CSV file into many other programs such as Outlook, Eudora and many mailing programs. Click one time on Text File and then click on the Export button. You will then be given the choice to export to a location such as figure 1-X where you will need to click one time on the Browse button. Figure 1-W Figure 1-X Now you will see the standard Save As screen, you will become familiar with this particular window the more you use Microsoft Windows. To backup to a different location than is listed click on the drop down arrow as in figure 1-Y and navigate to where you want to backup. An example would be the temporary backup folder you created in the beginning of this chapter, a floppy disk or in our example a zip drive. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

19 Figure 1-Y Figure 1-Z If you want to create a new folder, inside your backup folder, simply click on the New Folder icon circled above in figure 1-Z. This will create a new folder in the file or disk listed in the Save in: area. The folder will be created with the name New Folder and the name will be highlighted (figure 1-ZA). Start typing in the name you want for the folder, nothing else. Figure 1-ZA If you accidentally clicked somewhere else, you can right-click on the new folder and select Rename from the choices and you will be back at figure 1-ZB. Figure 1-ZB To go into a newly created folder simply double-click on it. Once you have chosen a location you will need to name the file. At the bottom of both of the figures 1-Y and 1-Z, there is an area labeled File Name located at the bottom of the window. Here you will type on the name for you address book backup. I name it addressbook followed by the date information. If you have multiple identities you will need to log on as each OE identity and repeat the same process, however you might want to add the identity Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

20 name to the backup such as NancyAddressBook and HayleeAddressBook to keep them separate or under the location you are backing up to you can create a folder for each person and then all data that is backed up for that person can go into their folder for example C:\Backup\Nancy and C:\Backup\Haylee for temporary locations. Since there can be several files that you want to save as CSV for various reasons, naming the backup addressbook lets you know what it is at a glance and by placing the date that you backed it up as part of the name you will know when you last backed it up as in figure 1-ZC. Once you have named the backup, click on the Save button located in the lower right corner of the window. The next window will be just like figure 1-X shown earlier except the name of your backup file and location are now filled out (figure 1-ZD) simply click on Next to continue. Figure 1-ZC Figure 1-ZD The new window (figure 1-ZE) will allow you to select the fields (parts of the data) you wish to export, I strongly suggest you place a check mark in all of them just in case you forgot that you did use that field initially. To continue, click on the Finish button in the lower right hand corner. After a brief moment you will be congratulated with figure 1-ZF, select OK to continue. Figure 1-ZE Figure 1-ZF You will be brought back to the original window that allows you to choose the format (CSV) to export to (figure 1-W). Here you will need to click on the Close button and you are finished backing up the address book. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

21 To continue on and backup your messages you will need to have OE open. You do not want to go back to figure 1-V and select Messages, this will only backup for transfer to Outlook or Exchange as shown in figure 1-ZG. Figure 1-ZG Across the Outlook Express menu bar select Tools and then click on Options as shown in figure 1-ZH. The new window by default will open to the General tab (figure 1-ZI), select the Maintenance tab by clicking one time on it. The Maintenance tab is shown by the red arrow in figure 1-ZI. Figure 1-ZH Figure 1-ZI Figure 1-ZJ Now, click on the Store Folder button located toward the lower right of the window as shown by the arrow in figure 1-ZJ. A new smaller window will appear showing the storage location of your s just like figure 1-ZK. Since this can vary from place to Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

22 place and version to version of OE this is the best way to find them. Now you will want to copy the location. Begin by placing the mouse at the beginning of the file name, clicking one time before the C: and steadily dragging the mouse left across the whole name (which extends beyond what you see) until the entire location is highlighted, which should end with the s in Express. Figure 1-ZL gives you an example. Figure 1-ZK Figure 1-ZL Once the entire selection is highlighted (our example stops before Express is highlighted so you can see better, and you must have it highlighted) release the mouse button and then, on the keyboard, press the Ctrl and C keys at the same time. This is the Copy what is highlighted command. Even though it will be transparent to you, a copy of what you have selected is in the clipboard of Windows. Select the Cancel button two times to close figures 1-ZL and 1-ZJ above. Now go to the Start button on the desktop (it is located in the lower left of your monitor screen) and click on it one time and then click one time on Run. Figure 1-ZM is an example in Windows 98 and figure 1-ZN is an example of how it looks in Windows XP. Figure 1-ZM Figure 1-ZN After clicking on Run the run dialog box will appear. I t will look similar to figure 1-ZO below and may or may not have any text in the white area. If you do have text here delete it by clicking the mouse one time to the right of any text and pressing the Backspace key on your keyboard until all text is erased. If you do not have any test here simply move the mouse over the text box and click one time in the white area. This will place the cursor inside the box. Now, on the keyboard, press the Ctrl and V keys at the same time. This is the key combination for Paste what is in the clipboard here. The Run box should look like figure 1-ZP. Click OK to continue. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

23 Figure 1-ZO Figure 1-ZP Figure 1-ZQ should now be showing. This is all of the data files for the profile you were under in OE. Figure 1-ZQ Click one time on any one of the files to highlight it (do not double-click on it) then, on the keyboard, press the Ctrl and A keys at the same time, this is the keyboard command for Select everything in this folder or window. Now all of the files should be highlighted as in figure 1-ZR. Now press the Ctrl and C keys at the same time to copy everything and then close the Outlook Express window by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the screen. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

24 Figure 1-ZR Now you need to navigate to the backup folder you are going to use. You should be back at the desktop. Double-click on the My Computer icon (figure 1-ZS), if you are using Windows XP and My Computer is not on the desktop click on the Start button and then the My Computer icon as shown if figure 1-ZT. Figure 1-ZS Figure 1-ZT Next double-click on the drive you are going to backup to, in our example it has been the C: drive. Then click on the folder you are backing up to (the backup folder we created earlier in this chapter) and then double-click again in the subfolder for the user s identity, if you are using them. If you want to create a new folder, inside your backup folder, simply click on File New Folder as in figure 1-ZU. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

25 Figure 1-ZU This will create a new folder in the file or disk you had highlighted. The folder will be created with the name New Folder and the name will be highlighted just like in figure 1- ZV. Start typing in the name you want for the folder, nothing else. Figure 1-ZV If you accidentally clicked somewhere else, you can right-click on the folder and select Rename from the choices (figure 1-ZW) and you will be back at figure 1-ZV. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

26 Figure 1-ZW Figure 1-ZX To go into a newly created folder simply double-click on it. Once inside the folder rightclick any blank space and from the menu that appears select Paste as shown in figure 1- ZX. There you have it, all of the files should have been copied. You will need to repeat the above steps for each identity you have in OE. Backing up your Internet Explorer Favorites Open Internet Explorer, go to Files Import Export and select Export. Follow the steps, be sure to save the file into the previously mentioned backup folder. Backing up the Registry. The registry is the DNA of a computer. Just like with human DNA you must be very careful when dealing with it. Throughout this book you must follow my listed steps carefully or very bad things will happen. To back up the registry go to Start Run and type in regedit then press the Enter key. Refer back to figures 1-ZM to 1-ZO for examples. When the registry opens choose File Export, (figure 1-ZY)now choose the location to backup to (I strongly suggest the Backup folder). Select Open, which is located n the lower right of the windows (red arrow in figure 1-ZZ) to go into the folder. Make sure that under Export Range the All button is selected (circled in figure 1-ZZ). That is all there is to it! Figure 1-ZY Figure 1-ZZ Backing up Windows XP: Well, what are we waiting for, let s get started. For our purposes we are going to show how to backup Windows XP to a network drive (a disk on another computer) and then in Windows ME to a Zip disk. First let s go through the steps in XP. Go to Start All Programs Accessories System Tools Backup as in figure 1-XP-1. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

27 Figure 1-XP-1 Figure 1-XP-2 is the introductory screen for Windows XP. If you do not want to use the Wizard deselect the check box, however for our purposes we are going to use it. After selecting Next you will be taken to figure 1-XP-3 where you can choose to create a backup or restore a backup (remember this for when you do need to restore), in this case we should be sure Backup files and settings is selected and continue by selecting Next again. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

28 Figure 1-XP-2 Figure 1-XP-3 The next screen you will come to looks like figure 1-XP-4, here you can choose the files you want to backup. The default selection is My documents and settings. Even though I recommend that you always save your documents and files into the My Documents folder, many programs do not (remember the list I had you make at the beginning of this section?), for this reason I suggest you select Let me choose what to back up. The next screen you will be presented with (figure 1-XP-5) allows you to choose the files to backup. In the left hand column, simply click on the plus signs (+) next to drive and folders where your files are located. Here we want to navigate the left column by clicking on the plus symbols through Desktop My Computer C: and place a checkmark next the Updates, Downloads and Backup folder. After that, continue to navigate to the Documents and Settings <Username> My Documents folder for each user. The text <Username> refers to the required logon names in XP, you may have only one or every person who uses you computer may have a different icon they click on to get to their personal desktop. Figure 1-XP-4 Figure 1-XP-5 By clicking in the box next to the folder containing the files or next to the individual file itself you select it for back up for an example see figure 1-XP-6. Once you have selected all of the files and folders that need to be backed up, select the Next button in the lower right corner of the window. The next screen (Backup Type Destination and Name: figure 1-XP-7) allows you to choose where to backup and the name for your backup. To go to Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

29 another backup device besides the one selected (in this case the floppy drive is selected) click one time on the Browse button. Figure 1-XP-6 Figure 1-XP-7 Figure 1-XP-8 will appear, simply click the cancel button to continue. The next screen to appear will be figure 1-XP-9, in the Save in area (at the top if the figure) click on the down arrow and browse to where you want to backup to. To select where you want to backup simply click one time on the device, in this case d on BILLY BOY GATES is chosen. Figure 1-XP-8 Figure 1-XP-9 You can enter the File name on this same screen (bottom portion of the screen) then click on the Save button or simply click on the Save button and on figure 1-XP-10 under Type a name for this backup enter the name for your backup. After selecting Next on figure 1-XP-10 you will be brought to the completion page which simply shows the information you have selected to this point. To continue click Finish as shown on figure 1-XP-11. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

30 Figure 1-XP-10 Figure 1-XP-11 The backup process will begin. Figure 1-XP-12 shows the status of the backup including the Progress in both a bar diagram and estimated time as well as the number of files and bytes completed and total. When the backup process is complete figure 1-XP-13 will appear giving you the status. By clicking on the Close button you finish the job. To double check simply browse out to where you chose to backup to and see if the file is present. Figure 1-XP-12 Figure 1-XP-13 Backing up in Windows 9x: To back up in Windows ME go to Start Programs Accessories System Tools Backup. Figure 1-9x-1 is the example in Windows ME where we begin out journey. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

31 Figure 1-9x-1 The first screen that will appear gives you the choices of what to do, in our case we want to create a new backup (figure 1-9x-2) so be sure that is selected then click on the OK button. The next windows, as shown in figure 1-9x-3, allows you to choose what to back up, I highly discourage you from selecting the Back up My Computer unless you really need an entire image but this is an exception not the rule. Instead, select the Back up selected files, folders... choice and then select Next to continue. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

32 Figure 1-9x-2 Figure 1-9x-3 You will be brought to figure 1-9x-4. In the left column you can start clicking on the plus signs (+) to navigate to the folders and files you want to backup, mark them by clicking one time in the box next to what you want backed up, see figure 1-9x-5 for an example. Figure 1-9x-4 Figure 1-9x-5 Here we want to place a checkmark under the C: drive next the Updates, Downloads and Backup folder and then navigate to the My Documents folder to be sure we get all of those fabulous letters to Aunt Marge and Uncle George safely backed up. The next screen is where you get the choice to back up the files no matter what or only files that have been changed (Differential), if this is your first backup select All selected files (figure 1-9x-6) and then select Next. On the next screen (figure 1-9x-6) use the drop down menu to select where to backup to by browsing to it, clicking one time on the physical location like the Zip drive used here or another hard drive. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

33 Figure 1-9x-6 Figure 1-9x-7 The next window that will appear is figure 1-9x-8, next to File Name enter today s date, that way you know when the backup was made. Notice that I use MMDDYY format. Select Open to continue. The next screen, as shown in figure 1-9x-9, confirms what you are backing up to (a file), where you are backing up (drive D:) and the file name. Simply click Next to continue. Figure 1-9x-8 Figure 1-9x-9 The next window has the options, the first is to verify the data and the second is to compress the data to save space, I highly recommend that you select both as in figure 1-9x-10. By selecting Next to continue on to figure 1-9x-11. Here you will be able to enter a name for the backup and below that you can see to verify what you have entered. Here I use the same name I gave the QIC file in figure 1-9x-8. Select the Start button in the lower right hand corner of the window to continue. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

34 Figure 1-9x-10 Figure 1-9x-11 If you gave figure 1-9x-8 one name and figure 1-9x-11 a different name and later decided to create a differential or incremental backup, you must change the QIC name and the job name anyway otherwise you will get the following error message shown in figure 1-9x-12 Figure 1-9x-12 As the job begins, you will have a screen appear similar to Figure 1-9x-13 and after a few seconds figure 1 9x-14 will appear that has more information on what was happening. Figure 1-9x-13 Figure 1-9x-14 Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

35 When the backup job is complete you will be notified with a pop-up similar to figure 1-9x-15, simply select OK to continue. You will be brought back to a completion screen very similar to figure 1-9x-16, to finish select OK. Figure 1-9x-15 Figure 1 9x-16 The last thing you want to do is to verify the backup by going to Windows Explorer and browsing to the location of the backed up file and see if it is there as in figure 1-9x-17. Figure 1-9x-17 Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

36 To open Windows Explorer you have several choices. I want you to click one time on the Start button, located in the lower left corner of the monitor. Next you will click on the Programs button that is listed in the menu that appears. If you have Windows 95 or 98 click on Windows Explorer (figure 1-9x-18), if you have Windows ME you will need to click on Accessories and then Windows Explorer as shown in figure 1-9x-19 Figure 1-9x-18 Figure 1-9x-19 To navigate the Windows Explorer screen, simply click on the plus (+) symbols in the left hand column to get to where you backed up to as shown in figure 1-9x-17. Scheduling automatic backups: You can schedule regular backups if you have a fixed location to backup to, in other words where you backup to will always be in place at the time a backup is scheduled. This is where a NAS or 2 nd hard drive works great. But if you do not have a lot of information that changes a Zip disk (they come in 100, 250 and 750 MB sizes) and even a CD-RW (CD burner) with a disk in the drive will work. Windows 95, 98 and ME do not support scheduled backups with their built in program. Windows NT requires the use of many script commands and a batch file, so we won t cover it in this book. Scheduling Automatic Backups in Windows XP or Windows Go through the XP steps listed above in Backing up in Windows XP and continue to figure 1-XP-11. On that figure select the Advanced button and you will be taken the figure 1-BU-1. Select the drop down arrow under Select the type of backup and choose Incremental click on the Next button. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

37 Figure 1-BU-1 Figure 1-BU-2 You will be taken to figure 1-BU-2, place a checkmark next to Verify data after backup and select Next to continue. The next screen will be figure 1-BU-3 where you will place a check mark next to Replace the existing backup or Append the backup I always replace. By selecting Next you will be taken to figure 1-BU-4 where you should choose Later and give the backup a Job name. Select the Set Schedule button to continue configuring. Figure 1-BU-3 Figure 1-BU-4 To set the schedule you will be taken to figure 1-BU-5 where you will choose several options, be sure to change the Schedule Task from Once (figure 1-BU-5) to more frequently, like weekly (figure 1-BU-6) and set the time and day for the backup to run and then select the OK button. You will be taken back to figure 1-BU-4. Select Next to continue. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

38 Figure 1-BU-5 Figure 1-BU-6 You should have the account information box appear (figure 1-BU-7) where you will need to enter your password two times. Enter it and select OK. Finally select Finish (figure 1-BU-8). Figure 1-BU-7 Figure 1-BU-8 To be sure that everything worked go to Start Control Panel Performance and Maintenance Scheduled Task and see if it is listed under the name you had given it. To test it right click on the file name and select Run. You should see figure 1-BU-3 and 1- BU-4 from earlier in this section. Running Incremental Backups in Windows XP Suppose you want to run a full backup of a group of files at the beginning of a week, and then back up only the files that have changed on the remaining days of the week. To do so, you have the choice of Incremental or Differential backups. For a description of the two types refer back to Running a Backup. First be sure that you have already created a full backup, just like we discussed in Backing up Windows XP earlier in this chapter. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

39 Open the Backup program again and follow the directions until you get to figure 1-XP- 10. Make sure to use a different media (disk, tape or Zip) for each backup. If you run a Full on Monday and you want to run Incremental on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, then you will need 4 different disks or tapes, one for each backup. Now continue on to figure 1-XP-11, on that window click on the Advanced button, and you will be taken to a new Backup Wizard screen as shown below in figure 1-BU-9. From the drop down menu select Incremental. Figure 1-BU-9 Next you will be taken to the verification screen (figure 1-BU-10). I strongly suggest that you select Verify Backup and then select Next to continue. The next window allows you to append to the tail end of an existing backup or replace the current backup, I suggest that you choose to replace as in figure 1-BU-11. The Incremental mode only backs up files that were created or changed since the last backup, select Next to continue. Figure 1-BU-10 Figure 1-BU-11 Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

40 You will be taken to the When to Back Up window, choose Now as shown in figure 1- BU-12 and then select Next to continue and you will be taken to figure 1-XP-11 just follow it through as you did through figure 1-XP-13. Figure 1-BU-12 To make a full restore of the backups, both the incremental and full backups are required. Running Incremental or Differential Backups in Windows ME Follow the steps in the section Backing up in Windows 9x: through figure 1-9x-6, here you will choose New and changed files then select Next. By default Windows ME automatically selects the Differential Backup. You will be taken to figure 1-9x-9, select Next to continue (you skip figures 1-9x-7 and 1-9x-8 and the text applying to them). Continue to follow through figure 1-9x-17. If you leave the same name (the.qic name in figure 1-9x-12) you will get a message very similar to figure 1-BU-13. If you choose Overwrite you are going to overwrite any file with the same QIC extension regardless of the name given in figure 1-9x-11. This is why I suggested giving them both the same name. Figure 1-BU-13 If you want to perform or change to an Incremental backup simply cancel the existing backup or follow figure 1-9x-1 and select Close on figure 1-9x-2. You will have figure 1- BU-14 displayed. Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek

41 Figure 1-BU-14 Next you will want to go to the upper corner and click one time on Job and then click on Options just like in figure 1-BU-15 or you can click on the Options button on the bottom center of figure 1-BU-14. The next window that appears is figure 1BU-16, you must select the tab across the top labeled Type. Under here you will simply click on the Incremental Backup Type radio button and then select Apply then OK to continue. This will save this backup job as an Incremental each time you run it. You will be taken back to figure 1-BU-14. To start the job select the Backup Job name and then selecting Start both as circled in that figure. Figure 1-BU-15 Figure 1-BU-16 Chapter Copyright 2010 The Weekly Geek