Backing Up Your Stuff Part 7: Where Is It #3?

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These items are all stored by the ...
system in your system folder. ...
95, 98 and ME, this is ... called ...
while on ... and NT it is usually called either "WINNT" o These items are all stored by the operating system in your system folder.
OnWindows 95, 98 and ME, this is generally called "WINDOWS", while on Windows2000 and NT it is usually called either "WINNT" or "WINNT40" or something tothat effect.When you install your operating system you can actually change the name ofyour system folder (that's the WINNT or Windows folder) as well as the bootdrive. If you did either of these things, just substitute the appropriateinformation.FontsDepending upon which version of Windows you are running and where youinstalled the operating system, your fonts could be in a number of differentplaces.
Assuming you took the defaults when your system was created (or itwas created for you), you will find fonts in the following places: Windows 2000, NT - C:WINNTFonts Windows 95, 98 and ME - C:WindowsFontsIf you still cannot find your fonts, all is not lost. Use the "search"function form your "Start" menu and look for a folder called "fonts".WallpapersBelieve it or not, wallpapers are stored directly in your systems folder.They always have a file type of ".BMP", which means they are large.
If youwant to save your wallpapers, just back up everything with a ".BMP" filetype.ScreensaversThese things are a little more complicated, since they usually require morethan one file. These are stored in the system folder, and they can also befound in different subfolders, including "system32" and "system".
There is almost always a file with a file type of ".SCR", and often thereare ".DLL" files as well. There may be additional files (and they may be inadditional subfolders) depending upon the screen saver.How do you know what to back up? It's not easy, and my recommendation is tosave the original files (usually ".EXE" and ".ZIP" files) in a differentdirectory.
There is simply no telling what the screen saver installation hascreated (it could even create registry keys!)Internet Explorer CookiesYou don't really need to know where Internet Explorer saves it's cookies,since you can make a backup of them from the browser whenever you want. Todo so, select the "Import and export" option from the "File" menu.Internet Explorer FavoritesTo save your favorites, just choose "Import and export" option from the"File" menu.
The wizard will guide you through the process.Putting It All TogetherAll right, you've purchased some hardware, say an writeable CD drive, andyou've got some software, let's say you purchase Second Copy. You also knowwhere the computer puts things.
Now what?Okay, what you need to do is organize the heck out of your system. What I'vedone is allocate a whole physical drive to my stuff.
This way I know exactlywhere my files are ... and keeping them separate from the applications andoperating system files means my stuff does not get mixed up with anyoneelse's stuff.If you cannot afford another hard disk drive, or if you just don't want tobother, you can create a separate partition on your system disk.
Note thatyou can only do this on a new drive (a new system perhaps) or you will haveto completely back up and restore your drive. Unless you are starting fromscratch with a new system or a new disk, this option is usually not worththe trouble.The other thing you can do (and what most people do) is simply to create afolder for your stuff.
You could call it "My Stuff" or you could give it aname (like your own name, for example) or whatever else you want.Now, regardless of whether you are using a separate drive, a partition orjust a folder, do the following.Create a subfolder called "Backups". Under that folder create someadditional subfolders for the things you want to save.
You might create"Stationary" for your outlook stationary and "Fonts" for your font files.For example, if you had a folder called "C:My Stuff" you would create thefollowing: C:My StuffBackups C:My StuffBackupsFonts C:My StuffBackupsStationaryNow use a program such as Second Copy to copy the files from your systemfonts folder (remember it's usually called "C:WindowsFonts") to your ownbackup copy of Fonts. (If you don't want to purchase a program like SecondCopy, you'll do these steps by hand or with some other backup package).
Dothe same for the stationary files.Now, create some additional folders under your main folder. These arecompletely up to you, and should somehow organize your work.
You might windup with something like the example below: C:My StuffHome C:My StuffHomeDownloads C:My StuffHomeGames C:My StuffHomeScripts C:My StuffWork C:My StuffWorkInventories C:My StuffWorkMemos C:My StuffWorkWork In ProgressNow, as you work, just be sure and save things in the proper folders. Ohyes, remember to move your old stuff into the new folders as well.Now comes the important part.
Use your backup program to create a backup. Ipersonally like to set up Second Copy to back up everything from "C:MyStuff..." onto a writeable CD.
I keep the same CD in the drive for a week ora month or whatever my backup cycle is (the amount of time before I changemedia).I then tell Second Copy to do this copy from "C:My Stuff..." onto thewriteable CD once every day. Second Copy is pretty smart and only makes acopy of the files that have changed.
Once a month or so, I remove the CD andput it on a shelf, then insert and format a new CD. This ensures I canalways go back if necessary.The beauty of this backup method is that once it is set up it almostcompletely runs itself.
Second Copy keeps making backups as long as there issomething to write to in the writeable CD drive. All you need to do isoccasionally remove the CD, and insert and format another one.The disadvantage of this method over a full backup is if you do have acomplete disaster you have to completely rebuild your system and reinstallyour applications.To sum it all up:- Choose a backup media such as writeable CD- Choose a backup product such as Second Copy- Ensure that you can rebuild your system at any time by keeping youroriginal installation materials.- Create a folder for your stuff- Create a subfolder called Backup and subfolders under that for anything that you want to keep from the system or applications area.- Set up Second Copy (or a similar program) to create back ups of thosefiles.- Create subfolders in your stuff folder for the rest of your stuff- Set up your backup program to back up all of your stuff (including thebackups of the system and application stuff) onto the writeable CD or othermedia.- Remove the media occasionally and replace so you have a backup outside ofyour actual machine.I know it sounds complicated, but believe me, it's a lot simpler than goingthrough the frustration of having no backup of your critical files.
Article Tags: Operating System, System Folder, Second Copy Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .