"Kevin" <webman6@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O9n9K$iiIHA.1164@xxxxxx
Quote:
>
> "PM Guy" <PM Guy@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:4136D6A1-D7D4-44F8-BDE3-63FCD4E15BF4@xxxxxx Quote:
>>I run Vista Home Premium and have been informed that it has built in
>>backup
>> capability to make a 'dic image' of my entire computer similar to what
>> "Ghost" does.
>> however, I cannot locate the starting point which I was told is under the
>> 'system and maintenance' heading in Control Panel. in my control panel
>> there
>> is no such system and maintenance setting.
>> will appreciate any advise.
>
> Control Panel>System and Maintenance>Backup your Computer
>
> As far as I know, Windows does not include any sort of "disk imaging"
> application.
>
> Backing up your data is simple. Burn your data to a CD or DVD. Copy it
> to a USB flash drive. Copy it to an external hard drive. You don't need
> any third party software to do it.
As a side note, as USB flash drives have an annoying tendency to suddenly
fail, I suggest that they aren't suitable for backup or sole storage
purposes.
File transfer, yes. Backup, no. Reliability is critical for backup media,
and USB flash drives just aren't reliable enough.
As well, it's important to understand that some apps keep their data in
folders helpfully marked as Hidden, and simple copying of a structure may
miss these.
3rd party software often adds features that simple copying doesn't have,
such as compression and differential backups.
HTH
-pk