[this was posted in an early issue of Ray's Computer Tips by Bruwer]

    To get away from backups I have installed another hard drive and all my important files/programs are copied to it on a regular basis.  WinRescue (http://superwin.com/rescuexp.htm) is a very useful program, it has saved me many hours when things went wrong, up and running in minutes instead of days.

[this was posted in an earlier issue of Ray's Computer Tips by Paul]

    In response to Bruwer's Tip, isn't it risky to keep backups on your computer? (summarized by Ray)  ...I evaluated WinRescue some months back and I just don't see it or "Bruwer's" use of it as a means of disaster recovery.

    I do both.  I make a backup to an external drive that is kept separate of my computer and I make weekly backups that are kept on a different hard drive.  The only situation that I can see myself using the external drive backups in is if there was a fire or someone stole my computer.  I have never used them and I doubt that I ever will (written with fingers crossed).  The only reason why I make them is because my data is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (in my eyes at least).  Most people do not have that valuable of information on their computers and so it is not worth it to spend several hundreds of dollars keeping backups that they will never use.

    On the other hand, I have used the backups made on my computer by WinRescue many times.  Usually I have needed them because of stupid things that I have done, like unintentionally deleting files.  My recommendation is to make backups of files that are important to you to a different drive.  You should backup files on C to D and vice versa.  Most people do not have a need to do more than that but they do need to do that.

Like most computer users I never get around to making backups. My strategy is to partition my drive and reserve C: for the operating system only (although Win2000 often puts programs on it - which I move ASAP).  This means that an image of C: on a different partition is all I need in case of a "Microsoft moment" i.e format C:

This has save me many times with Win 95 and 98 although not so far with Win2000 -- it hasn't been necessary.

   Backups are not just used for "Microsoft Moments".  They are also good if you make a mistake in working with a document and need to go back to what you had before.  I use backups for this more than anything else.
   If you are not in a habit of making backups, you should start.  It is not that hard.  Just set up our WinRescue (http://www.superwin.com/rescuexp.htm) to back up your important folders/files and forget about it.  WinRescue will automatically perform the backup.