Hello Tonymast,
I have several solutions for you. In order to choose a system,
you?ll need to consider exactly what you need to back up and how
often. Do you want to store data only? (Documents, photos, music) or
do you want to back up the operating system and settings? If data is
critical, consider backing up to two locations ? to a hard drive AND
to CDs/DVDs, or an off-site online backup facility. Do you have
duplicate data on each laptop? You would not need to back the same
data more than once. Are all your computers networked? If so, and data
is what you wish to backup, you could transfer data to one computer,
and back up that one PC.
Easiest but Expensive
======================
Since you prefer something that could perform automatic backups,
external hard drives would be your best bet. I like the Maxtor One
Touch. How large of a drive, and how many you purchase will depend on
your budget and just how simple you want to make this process. If you
purchased a smaller external drive for the respective drives, you
could, as the cliché says ?Set it and forget it?.
Maxtor makes OneTouch external USB/Firewire hard drives. These can be
connected to any PC (provided you have USB or Firewire ports). If your
budget can handle it, perhaps you could purchase one smaller drive for
each laptop and one for the desktop.
?The Maxtor OneTouch USB and Firewire external hard drive is smart
storage with push-button backup. Just press the button and your files
are backed up in one simple step that is faster than a floppy, CD, or
removable cartridge systems. And with storage up to 300 GB you'll have
space for your photos, videos, graphics, music, documents and more.
Spend less time searching for files by storing them on a single,
spacious drive. The drive, with its high quality, anodized aluminum
case, is as attractive as it is flexible. It?s great for home or
office. It lies flat on your desk or stands upright to save space. It
connects to FireWire or USB ports on a PC or Mac. It backs up with the
Maxtor OneTouch button or runs automated backups using the included
software, Dantz Retrospect Express. And you can customize the button
to launch any application. The Maxtor OneTouch series of drives are
powerful, yet simple backup solutions.?
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Maxtor_One_Touch_300GB_External_USB___Firewire_Hard_Drive/B01D300/p/328214
?The One Touch Backup system was originally developed at Quantum
laboratories, before that company was acquired by Maxtor in early
2001. Maxtor simply had to improve the system before releasing it onto
the market.
The process starts when the user presses the button on the One Touch
external drive, initiating the backup process. It's simply the fastest
way possible to perform a backup, faster than CD or a removable
cartridge system and certainly faster than floppies. Backup and
Restore is handled exclusively by Daunt Retrospect software.
- Simplicity
Throughout the entire backup or restore process, you won't find any
complex menus or commands and there's no need for any technical
knowledge in order to set up and use the Maxtor One Touch II drive.
Even installation of the One Touch software is a matter of a few
clicks with the mouse and some simple questions such as the user's
name and preferred language.
By leaving everything to default settings, Retrospect backs up
everything on the local drives, including Internet favorites, address
books, my documents folders, outlook express mail folders, operating
system folders, applications, etc.? Because of copyright laws, I?m
unable to post the entire text here ? please read the entire page for
further information.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=13587
?Maxtor's popular "OneTouch II" external hard drives (250GB and 300GB
each, starting around $250 street) connect via FireWire or USB to your
PC or Mac. For PC users, it also creates historical backup versions
with full system restore to a point in time, something that's unique
to this way of backing up. And if it's lost or stolen, Maxtor
DriveLock protects the contents of your drive.?
http://www.allbusiness.com/articles/InternetTechnology/10943-34-1824.html
?Because the drives are external, you don't need to crack a PC case.
You only need some flat space for the stackable anodized aluminum
case, which looks like an oversized vintage Hayes Smartmodem, or a bit
less space if you use the vertical stand that comes with the drive.
With a Microsoft Windows XP system, you just plug in the power cord,
turn on the drive, and connect a USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394) cable.
The OS will recognize the drive, which you can then use like any
other, except for booting.
The 120GB OneTouch supports USB 1.1 and 2.0 only, but the 200GB,
250GB, and 300GB versions also have a pair of FireWire connectors,
which let you easily daisy-chain multiple drives. For this review,
Maxtor supplied the 250GB version.
A wizard guides you through configuration of the automatic backup
settings, making the process painless. You can also create additional
backup scripts to run manually. Pressing a button on the front of a
OneTouch drive causes a monitoring utility to launch the bundled
backup software, Dantz Retrospect Express 6.0, by default. If you have
some other favorite backup program, you can set the Maxtor software to
call it up instead.
Over a USB 2.0 connection, a 621.9MB backup of 5,192 files took 5
minutes 4 seconds complete with a second pass for verifying the files.
However long backing up your system takes the first time, future
backups are far faster, because Retrospect Express backs up only new
and changed files. We also found we could keep working while backing
up with little to no effect on the foreground program.?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1230498,00.asp
?It is comforting to know that you've got plenty of storage space.
Increasing availability of big hard disks with capacities of 300-500
GB make this feeling easy to attain, and drives of 200 and 250 GB can
be had for a song. In this brave new world, external hard disks serve
to extend additional storage space, to serve as a backup medium or to
serve both needs at once.?
http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20050804/
?Backup to an external hard drive. This is probably the quickest, most
cost effective option. You can often get a removable drive on sale or
with rebate for a low price too. You can get one with hundreds of
Gigabytes of space too. They can be easy to hookup to your notebook
computer. However, do remember that they are hard drives and hard
drives can fail. You may find the external backup fails before your
notebook computer does.?
http://ezinearticles.com/?Backup----But-Where-To?&id=62188
Crème de la crème of Maxtor backup solutions ? 1 terabyte of storage!
http://www.maxtoronetouchiii.com/
Cheaper but time consuming
===========================
Note: The words ?mirror?, ?image? and ?clone? are often used interchangeably.
?Mirror Your Hard Drive. Notebook hard drives are known to die
early deaths. I've had two drives--in the same notebook--expire within
one year. So along with online storage of your crucial files, I also
recommend investing in a portable external hard drive that both backs
up and mirrors your notebook's entire hard drive. Such a drive becomes
a virtual replica of your notebook's drive that you can boot from
should your computer's hard drive fail (assuming the computer's BIOS
allows booting from a USB drive).?
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118454,00.asp
?All too often have I been called upon to try and get a home or office
computer working again, only to find that the backup (if any) consists
of a few word files and maybe a copy of some accounts data?
Now you might be thinking what's wrong with that? Aren't those the
important files? Well, yes! But what about your Emails, Address book,
all your Desktop/Internet Shortcuts, FTP settings, Anti-Spam &
Anti-Popup filters etc.? You've spend months if not years getting your
PC looking and running just the way you like it and in one split
second it's all gone.
Now assuming you've got all these backed-up, just think, how long it's
going to take even for an experienced technician to re-install the
Operating System and then all your programs like MS Office etc. and
that's if you can find the original CD-ROMs that came with your PC.
Plus what about the programs & updates you downloaded from the
Internet and stored on your now crashed hard drive. What a nightmare!
So you do the best you can with what you've got and get your PC back
to some useable state, but it's only then you fully realize how poor
your backup really was and how much time & money you lost while
waiting for your system to be restored, not to mention the repair
bill.
But you're probably thinking to yourself, backups take so long to
complete and how can you be sure your backing up all the necessary
data? Well, as I see it, the only way you can be guaranteed you're
getting all your data is to create what's called an image of your
system (C:) drive.
By creating an image of your hard drive you are basically taking a
snapshot or complete copy of your drive at a moment in time, you can
then use that image to restore your system drive with a few clicks of
the mouse and in a fraction of the time & hassle than with the earlier
example.?
http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Your-Backup-Good-Enough?&id=61406
Purchase a back up program such as Norton Ghost or Acronis True
Image. These programs make an image of your drives, which you can burn
to CD/DVD or store on another drive. (External or internal). A major
benefit of imaging is that settings are saved and restored. If your
Outlook program becomes corrupted, you can restore it, settings and
data intact. You can restore a 100G hard drive in about an hour,
without manually setting your email, bookmarked favorites, spam
blockers, toolbars, fonts, program preferences, and any customization
you may have done.
Acronis True Image
-------------------
?Acronis True Image 9.0 provides you two backup options in one software:
1) Our original disk imaging backup option which enables you to create
an image of your entire hard disk drive, including the operating
system, applications, user settings, and all data. Use the image to
restore your PC to a known working state without any reinstallation.
2) A new file-based backup option which enables you to backup and
restore individual files and folders, like your My Documents folder or
a specific file, like your latest tax return. A software wizard walks
you through all of the steps.?
http://www.acronis.com/
?Acronis True Image
The complete disk imaging, system disk backup, and bare metal restore
for workstations and home PCs
Acronis True Image allows to create an exact disk backup image for
complete system backup and disk cloning providing the most
comprehensive data protection.
The disk backup file contains the exact copy of a hard disk, including
all the computer data, operating system, and programs.
After a system crash you can restore the entire system or simply
replace lost files and folders from your disk backup.?
http://ezinearticles.com/?Insure-Your-Information&id=81105
Norton Ghost
------------
?Norton Ghost 2003 upholds its reputation as a versatile product.
The main menu has buttons that open wizards for common tasks, such as
restoring or creating images. Advanced tasks include direct drive
cloning and peer-to-peer networking. The program also offers a utility
that browses the contents of existing Norton Ghost images. While
Symantec made a good attempt at making this product more intuitive,
you still need to familiarize yourself with the software before diving
in. The wizards are straightforward but provide no thorough
explanation of available options. The peer-to-peer feature lets you
image to multiple systems simultaneously. While some of the data
transfer methods may hinder performance, the added functions prove
helpful. Norton Ghost runs in DOS to perform most tasks, as it
requires exclusive access to the hard drive, so plan ahead for
downtime. Nonetheless, it performs superbly on powerful hardware.?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1585250,00.asp
Very Expensive
===============
Remote Back Up Online
?Remote Data Backups Advantages
Our advanced, automated online backup service makes all other computer
backup solutions (tape drive, zip, jaz, external & USB drives, CD-RW,
DVD, Raid Drives, etc.) obsolete. more »
? An Inexpensive Backup Solution
? Easy, Automated Data Protection
? Secure Data Storage & Recovery
? Reliable Offsite Backup Service
? Full-Featured Backup Software
? Fast Online Storage & Data Restore
? Fast, Experienced & FREE Tech Support
http://www.remotedatabackups.com/
Xdrive
5G storage $10/month
http://www.xdrive.com/
?Why Back Up Online?
Most traditional backup methods copy your computer files onto some
kind of media, be it an external hard drive, a CD or DVD, or a USB
keychain drive. These methods are convenient and quick, and many
(particularly external hard drives and DVDs) offer plenty of
inexpensive storage space.
The problem is that most of the time, most people keep the external
hard drives and DVDs in the same office or building as the computer
they're backing up. So, should a disaster--hurricane, earthquake,
fire--occur, both the computer and the data backup could be destroyed.
There's also the problem of theft, of course. Just the other day, I
was reading the police blotter of my neighborhood's monthly newspaper,
"The Noe Valley Voice." I live in what's considered a safe area of San
Francisco, so I was surprised to read about all the laptops and
peripherals stolen from people's home offices.
That's why I'm a firm believer in online backup services, which save
your most critical computer files on a secure, off-site server over
the Internet. If you've backed up regularly online, you may lose your
computer in a disaster or to a theft, but at least your key files will
survive.?
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118454,00.asp
Things to Consider
===================
Before selecting a method, consider the 7 steps to a bullet-proof
back up system:
1. Central storage of data on the network
The first step in setting up a backup system is deciding what needs to
be backed up. Ask yourself, what can I afford to lose? For example,
the latest Windows Service pack can be downloaded again, so there is
little need to protect it; your customer database cannot so easily be
replaced. Once you have identified the information you need to back
up, you need to know where it is stored. Although it might seem
counter-intuitive at first, as much of your critical data as possible
should reside in one place on the network. It is far simpler and
easier to backup, restore and protect one machine than several. As a
side benefit, physical and network access to that machine (and
therefore to critical and perhaps sensitive data) can more easily be
restricted, improving security.
2. Multiple backups
You don't want to have all your eggs in one basket. There are many
reasons why your company should have access to several full system
backups.
* A single backup could fail. Tapes, CDs and hard drives all wear out
eventually, so you shouldn't rely 100% on a single backup to store
your data. The more copies you have, the less likely you are to lose
all of your data to wear, fire damage, water damage, etc.
* In the case of accidental deletion, data loss is often noticed days
after it occured, which means that if your only backup is from last
night, you have no way of retrieving the data.
* Restoring files that were deliberately deleted months or even years
ago, when you thought you would never need them again, can often be of
great benefit.
3. Off-site backups
If your office burns down, you don't want all your backups to burn
with it, so it's important to physically move some of your backups
off-site. We recommend that any weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly
backups are stored off-site at a secure location.
4. On-site backups
While it is important to have some backups off-site, you don't want to
have to travel back and forth whenever you need to retrieve a file.
For this reason it's useful to have recent daily backups available
on-site to allow for quick recovery of files. These backups are still
important, and for reasons of security and reliability it is best to
store them in a secure place such as a fireproof safe, rather than
next to the server or on the System Administrators desk.
5. Monitoring
If you need to restore a file or a whole system, you want to be sure
that all backups completely successfully. It would be disastrous to
learn that your backups had failed only when you attempt to perform a
restoration. One way to ensure that each backup has been performed
successfully is to check the backup logs each day. An easier method is
to acquire backup software that notifies you daily of the backup
status and can alert you to any problems.
6. Follow the plan
If you are using tapes, disks or removable hard drives for backing up,
you will need to remember to change these regularly depending on the
backup scheme you are using. Neglecting to do this could cause the
backup to fail or could result in an important previous backup being
overwritten. It is also important that you insert the right device, as
having the 4th-of-June backup data on the 1st-of-January tape would
make the right data very difficult to find.
7. Regular file list updating
As you install new programs, add hard drives and create new files, it
is important to know that all new data is also protected. Of course,
if you are backing up the whole C: drive, for example, any new files
or programs on that drive will also be backed up automatically.
However, if you are only backing up specific, important files, it is
vital that you keep this list up to date, or you risk losing valuable
data.
http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Critical-Steps-to-a-Bullet-Proof-Backup-System&id=78928
Other tips
? Backups should be tested for correctness. A test of the backup
method should be done with files that are considered disposable. After
you perform a backup, you should delete those files from your hard
drive and then try to replace them using your backup.
? Backup your computer in several different media forms and make
copies of each: Common backup media include: Diskettes, tape, portable
storage (i.e. zip disk), CD-R and hard drives. It is always a good
idea to make multiple copies in 2 separate locations.
? Backup at least once or twice a month to keep it current and keep
your files safe. (If you use your computer for business purposes, you
may want to backup at least once every week.
? Run a virus scan on your computer before you backup, and run a
virus scan on a backup before restoring it to your computer. Failure
to do so will only perpetuate the problem.
? Only backup what is necessary: It is not necessary to backup an
entire hard drive. Most computers come with restoration CDs that will
help you get your computer back up and running.
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/education/k-12/cerias_resources/files/infosec_newsletters/13backups.php
Additional Information
======================
Back Up Software
http://www.handybackup.com/backup-software-reviews.shtml
Back Up Tips
http://www.novastor.com/tech_supt/backup_options.html
http://www.cob.sfasu.edu/wfisher/backuptips.html
http://www.12ghosts.com/ghosts/backup_how.htm
I hope this has helped you decide on a backup strategy. I really
think external hard drives, perhaps with CD/DVD as a secondary backup
is the easiest way to proceed.
If any part of my answer is unclear, please request an Answer
Clarification. I will be happy to assist you further on this question,
before it is rated.
Regards, Crabcakes
Search Terms
============
Maxtor Hard drive with One Touch
External Hard drive + automatic back ups
Maxtor external hard drive + one touch + reviews
backup software reviews |
Clarification of Answer by
crabcakes-ga
on
18 Oct 2005 22:36 PDT
Hi again,
Thank you for yopur clarification!
After reading more on the Maxtor One Touch (1 Terabyte), and now
knowing you prefer disk imaging, I find that this would not be your
best choice. This system employs RAID as its backup method. Simply
put, RAID scatters parts of your data to different drives. If one
section of the data becomes corrupt, the other sections are able to
rewrite the lost data. It does not make an image.
However, the 300G-500G Maxtor drives will work. If you have a home
network set up already, with file sharing enabled, you can use Ghost
with external hard drives for storage (and burn to CD/DVD for
additional security)
Symantec, maker of Ghost, recommends the following for a clean
backup and restore:
Scan your hard drive for errors and fix any corrupt sectors
Defragment your hard drive
Remove invalid Registry entries and broken shortcuts
Remove old programs and temporary files
Delete obsolete data
Make sure private and financial data is stored securely, as well as
making a boot disk, and saving data to two places.
http://www.symantec.com/region/au_nz/homecomputing/library/maint.html
Norton Ghost with 2 300G Maxtor One Touch will be more than adequate
space for your 500G of data, over a network. Ghost will compress the
data, if you select compression, taking less space on the drive.
?Norton Ghost lets you create a base backup with incremental backups.
A base backup (.v2i) is a full backup of everything on the drive. An
incremental backup (.iv2i) is an addendum to the base backup that
captures everything that changed on the drive since the base backup
was created. Because they contain less data, incremental backups are
faster to create and require less disk space to store, so you can back
up your computer more frequently without using as much time and
space.?
http://www.argentuma.com/backup/software/norton-ghost.html
According to this article, the Maxtor drives can easily handle backups
over a network.
?"With Maxtor Shared Storage Plus, we've added software features to
maximize the simplicity and value for home and small business
networks, such as the critical ability to back up precious digital
files to the drive and built-in servers for shared printing and media
streaming ," said Stacey Lund, vice president of marketing, Maxtor
Branded Products Group. "Now our simple and elegant Maxtor backup
experience is available across the entire family of Maxtor OneTouch
external drives and Maxtor Shared Storage drives for consumers and
small businesses."
The drive's new SimpleView feature, which acts like a built-in IT
administrator, provides detailed backup and storage status at a glance
to all users on the network. In addition, the exclusive user-friendly
wizard interface easily designates shared folders for full or limited
access for privacy, sets backup schedules and simplifies restoring
files. Organizing digital files is a breeze with Maxtor's exclusive
Drag and Sort feature, which automatically identifies and sorts more
than 100 different Windows file types and puts them in specific music,
photo, movie, Web, software or documents folders.
Setting up the Maxtor Shared Storage Plus drive on a home or small
office/home office (SOHO) network is simple. The drive plugs into a
network router via a 10/100 Ethernet port, and installs quickly with
the help of the drive's automatic network configuration. Once the
drive is on the network, users simply run a quick start CD on each
networked PC to automatically receive a desktop icon that gives them
easy access to a shared public folder and a set of personal
password-protected private network folders.?
http://peripherals.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=34392
Customer Opinion
?I have been using Maxtor external hard drives for just over a year
now and have made recommendations to family and colleagues which have
resulted in them buying many of them as well. So with experience with
close to a dozen hard drives, we have not had any problems and have
nothing but praise for the drives.
First off, with internal hard drive prices for laptops so expensive
and so difficult to install, external hard drives that use firewire
(IEEE1394) are a great option. These hard drives use both firewire and
USB, so you can take the information and hot swap it among multiple
computer (like a thumb drive) or keep it plugged in to a single
computer for use a secondary hard drive. I have found virtually no
speed difference between accessing files on the external hard drive
versus the internal.
The automatic backup feature, makes the hard drive all that much more
useful. It comes bundled with Dantz Retrospect Express program which
is an easy-to-use option for automatically backing up just what you
want with a touch of a button. I backup often, usually just punching
the button as I go meet to clients. It usually finishes the automated
process by the time I return. Because backing up is so easy to do,
when I did lose the hard drive on one of my laptops, I barely missed a
beat after I got it replaced, simply restoring the drive image to make
my new laptop look just like my old one.
I highly recommend Maxtor external hard drives.?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AZW8X/104-7472269-1049517?v=glance
On this site you can find Maxtor products in a comparison chart:
http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/compare_these_products/compare_external.htm
More backup information:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/update/wherebackup.mspx
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9496219/
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/company/inpress/2004/06-storagepipeline-trueimage.html
Something that might work well for you, would be to use Ghost to image
each drive on to re-writeable CDs/DVDs. Then, back up the drives over
the network using Maxtor?s One Touch program. Your settings,
preferences, operating system, will be preserved on CD/DVD, and the
Maxtor incremental backups can be used to store the more dynamic
portions of your drives, such as data, pictures, music, etc. It?s all
up to you as far as to how you want to store your backups!
Here is the data sheet, for you to peruse, on the Maxtor One Touch
Turbo. It has Firewire, USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 outputs. USB 2.0 devices
are backward compatible, meaning they will work on USB 1.1, but will
transfer data only at 1.1 speed. It does seem ideal, but it appears
not to work well with imaging.
For support or information, call us at 1-800-2Maxtor or visit us at www.maxtor.com
All Maxtor products are backed by our leading service and support staff.
Service includes:
? 24-hour on-line troubleshooting tools and email
? Maxtor?s commitment to total customer satisfaction
? Product support representatives available Monday-Friday
To speak with a Maxtor product support representative:
In the U.S. and Canada, call 1-800-2MAXTOR,
Mon.?Fri. from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. (MST).
In Europe, call +353 1 204 1111
Mon.?Thur. from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (GMT)
and Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (GMT)
In Australia, call 800-124-328
In Asia, call +65 6 481 6788
Mon.?Fri. from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Singapore GMT +7)
http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/onetouch_iii_turbo_datasheet.pdf
Good luck with the backups!
Regards, Crabcakes
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