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Download How to create back-up copies of your important information (PDF, 976 KB)

For most people, the most valuable part of their home computer is the information they create and store on it. From family photographs to email, your original documents are irreplaceable and their safety is entirely dependent on the reliability of your computer.

Your computer can lose information in different ways: the hard disk can fail, making it impossible to recover information from it; malware can damage files or make them irretrievable; some cyber criminals have even been known to encrypt people’s personal files and then demand a ransom for the key. If you regard the files you create as important, then keeping regular backups is vital to prevent them from being lost forever.

Most computer systems come with utilities to make it easy for you to make a backup of your data all you need provide is an external storage device, such as an external hard drive, USB key or writable CD/DVD.

Backing up your files is the most important thing you will ever do with your computer – after creating the files in the first place, of course! If you haven’t thought before about the value of your files, do it now – and read on to get started with backups.

This Factsheet explains how to set up an automatic back-up schedule using an external storage device.

Preparing for backup

While it is possible to copy data files manually to removable storage devices such as USB sticks or writeable compact discs (CDs) or DVDs, for practical purposes, the best way to establish an automatic back-up schedule is by purchasing an external hard disk drive that connects to your computer.

Before you can back up your computer, you’ll need an external storage device large enough to hold all of your data1, which may mean obtaining an external hard drive that is at least the size of your computer’s internal hard drive.

You shouldn’t leave your backup drive connected to your computer when not performing a backup as any malfunction of your computer may adversely affect your backup. Ideally, store it in a remote location so that it is protected from calamitous events – such as theft, fire or flood – but you will need to find a compromise between the safe storage of your drive and the convenience of performing a regular backup. Your backup is only useful if it contains data that is up to date!

To find out the size of the hard drive in your computer, perform the following:

Windows Vista

1. From the Start menu, open Computer

   

2. Look at the size displayed for the Hard Disk Drives on the computer

   

In this example, backup will require an external hard drive of at least 80 gigabytes.

Windows XP

1. From the Start menu, open My Computer
2. Right-click on the Local Disk (C:) icon and select Properties

   

In this example, the hard drive has a total capacity of only 4 gigabytes and a file backup could be accommodated by either an external hard drive or even smaller device such as a USB key.

Apple OSX

1. Look for the hard drive icon on the Macintosh desktop. While holding down the option key on the keyboard, click on the icon and select Get info.

   

In this example, the hard drive has a capacity about 75 gigabytes, which could require an external hard drive of similar or larger capacity to back up all of your data

Performing a backup

Windows Vista

Windows Vista comes with a Backup and Restore Center that allows you to perform a backup or restoration of your files or computer.

1. Open the Control Panel, then System and Maintenance and Backup and Restore Center – for more information about backup types, click Which type of backup should I make? (circled below).

2. Click the Back up files button and follow the prompts, choosing a backup device and the type of files to back up.

Windows XP

Windows XP comes with a backup program, Windows Backup, but it is not installed by default. It is easy to install from the original Windows XP CDROM:

1. Log in as an administrator
2. Install the backup application by clicking Start then Run and enter the text as shown (where D: is your Windows XP CDROM)

   

3. Click OK and follow the prompts to install the backup program.
4. Start the installed program by selecting it from the start menu

   

5. Follow the prompts from the backup wizard, and select your preferred backup – selecting “Everyone’s documents and settings” will ensure that all personal files on the computer are backed up.

   

6. Similarly to Windows Vista, choose a backup device when prompted and start the backup.

Apple OSX

1. The backup utility that comes with OSX is called Time Machine. To perform a backup, follow these steps:
2. Open the System Preferences window and start Time Machine (circled)

   

3. Time Machine is turned off by default – turning it on will begin the process of selecting a backup disk and configuring backup.

   

4. Turn on Time Machine or click Choose... to select the disk for backup. In this example, the drive NO NAME has been selected.

   

5. Setting up Time Capsule will cause the drive you have selected to be cleared of existing data, so be sure that you only use a drive with no existing data on it, or data you are willing to delete.

   

6. Follow the prompts to complete your first backup.

Schedule regular backups

Once you know how to do a backup, it is important to conduct backups on a regular basis – otherwise the information stored on backup may soon become out of date and incomplete. How regular you choose to do backups depends on how important the data is on your computer, and how often that data changes.

Restoring backups

The aim of this factsheet is to enable you to protect your data by backing it up. Used correctly, backup applications will generally prevent you from accidentally overwriting an existing backup. However, restoring files from a backup to your computer is not so straightforward and if done without proper instruction may result in a newer version of a file being replaced by an older one or, at worst, total destruction of existing files – precisely what the backup was intended to prevent. For this reason, in the event that you need to restore your data from backup it is recommended you seek assistance from a reputable computer technician.

References

For more information about backup, the following references may be helpful:

http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/securing_your_computer/list?result_page=8

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/data/backup.mspx

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

1 There are a variety of products on the market available from online computer stores or moststores which sell computer hardware.