Backup is a hard work

I spent all day thinking of a way to make a decent backup of my data on computer.

It may seem like something a bit paranoid, but only those who have lost a hard drive with no backup or had stolen a micro know what I'm talking about.

The problem is with Windows Vista Start Edition, which does not come with a decent backup program. Incidentally, does not come with any backup program.

All right if Baixaki and SuperDownloads sites have hundreds of backup programs, but I think I have to think of something more secure than a simple backup to DVD.

 

Every good backup site states the obvious: a backup on DVD only makes sense if it is done in at least two copies, one to be kept in a safe and another to stay somewhere else on the planet, in case of any missile fall in the building where the main computer.

One option seemingly secure is online backup, but seems to be a risky business, because it usually is paid and have a size limit. And then, a company that provides this type of service must be a safe company. Tomorrow she closes the door and put our data in risk.

The size issue is much more serious.

Before making a backup, I thought, how many files I have on my HD?

The answer is somewhere around 90,000 files.

It seems little, but it is not.

I wanted a software to show me my files today, then save the entire listing in a text file. Within a month I would run it again and record a second record of the files on my HD and so on. The idea is to monitor what emerges and what disappears from my files over time. Only a history.

 

The problem is that a list containing the names of 90,000 files is simply too great. Even for a simple text file type.

It's almost One megabite only with lines of names, which equals, if it were printed, a good book of some three hundred pages.

It's too much.

Of course, almost everything is bullshit. Thousands of files belong to Windows, other thousands belong to other programs that we can easily install. That leaves a few thousand who are our e-mails, photos, spreadsheets, school works, and presentations from the company where we work. But we do not want to miss anything. After all, it represent many hours of sweat and anger in form of stored files.

In the end, few programs have worked satisfactorily. I ended up with a simple little program that you can not list everything, but at least the list more used folders without stay much.

Now, I have to think a way to select between good files that worth something and bad files that worth nothing.

Then, do the backup.

Then, hope you never have to use it to restore a detonated HD, or replace data from a stolen PC .

This digital life is not easy.