Last week, I told you about the importance of backing up your data and I suggested some media to use for that purpose. I also suggested how you might accomplish the backup by simply copying your files onto your backup media. I promised that I would discuss backup programs with you this week.

There are basically two different types of backups. If you want to create a backup that will copy your entire system and boot up when inserted to re-create your system on a newly formatted hard drive, you will need a program that does just that. Not all backup programs will accomplish that. There are a number that do create a bootable copy of your system. One that I use is called NTI DriveBackup. Backing up and restoring full system backups can be somewhat challenging. If you are intimidated by that sort of thing, I would recommend just backing up your data.

There are many programs that accomplish the purpose of backing up individual files. One that I use is NTI Backup Now. The techniaque that is used by such a program is to do a full backup of all your data files and then periodically (daily, weekly, monthly, whatever you choose), the program simply backs up any changes to files or new files and removes deleted files. Then if you ever have to restore your files, you restore the original backup, foloowed in order by the periodic backups.

The important thing to look for when you choose a backup program is to make sure it will back up on the media you have chosen. Not all of them back up on CD's and not all of them back up on hard drives.

There is another way of doing it that I have begun using. It is faster and simpler than the method used by backup programs. I simply make a copy of all my data on my backup media and then I use a synchronization program GoodSync to make identical changes to the backup that I make to the original files. That way, each time you run the synchronization program, your backup is identical to the data files on your system. I am really delighted with this method. If I accidentally delete a file, it is always there on the backup to copy back to the original site. If I have a major disaster such as a hard drive crash, I simply copy the backup back on the new hard drive and I have all my data restored. This method will only work satisfactorily if your backup is on one CD or DVD or hard drive or a second computer, etc. If you need multiple disks, this will not work well.

Synchronization is also a good way to keep two computers with identical data files, for example a dekstop computer and a laptop. You do need to have a network (wireless is what most people are using today) installed to use a synchronization program for that purpose. I do want to make it clear that I am not endorsing any of these programs. They are simply the ones that I am using. You can find many others. I would suggest downloading shareware. That way you can try them out before buying them.