While shutting down a little over a week ago, the user profile I use on my laptop became corrupt. I started noticing ever-increasing problems over the next few days. Finally I decided to just wipe and rebuild the system. I have advocated that developers and the like should consider rebuilding their systems every 12-18 months. It's been 14 months since I purchased this laptop. So...corrupt profile, system problems, have backups, within 12-18 month timeframe....everything fits.
So why did I find myself reluctant?
When I reapplied the operating system and checked Windows Update for the first time, I needed 77 critical updates. 77. Wow. It's been three days and I am all up-to-date, defragged, and most reinstalled. As I have experienced many times, rebuilding is beneficial. It's good for the soul (so to speak). Now in all this I'm ignoring the fact that Windows and/or Outlook deleted the .pst file in my profile folder. Okay so the profile is corrupt...what are you doing deleting files?
Anyway, I have solid backups. I backup regularly and often irregularly. It's not a "clean" backup procedure in that I do perform some ad hoc backups. However, I have found a few techniques over the years that help me. Here is a listing of some of the techniques I use (in no particular order). What other techniques do you use? Please share to help everyone do better backups.
- File Locations - I keep all of my files for projects, business, work, etc. in a small set of locations. I use "My Documents" (and sub folders) as well as some specific files off of the root of C:\. When I need a "complete" system backup, I simply grab the 3 or 4 folders and copy them to the backup location.
- Mail in Two Places at Once - I have about 7 email addresses altogether. I pull 3 of them into Outlook. 1 of them is for my day job (on Exchange). The other three are Web-based and they stay that way. I instruct Outlook to leave mail messages on the server until I remove them from the "Deleted Items" folder. Basically, this means if I lose mail between backups I don't really "lose" it.
- Single App Backups - Some apps, like Quicken and Outlook, offer a backup and/or archive feature. I use these features pretty often and independently of other backups. For example, every time I pay bills (at least twice a year whether or not I need to), I backup the Quicken files. I also include these files in the regular backup process. Overkill? Maybe but I'm sure.
- Multiple Backup Locations - I backup to several locations. I use another workstation at my place. That machine has two drives and I backup to both (although not every time). This way if one drive fails...well...ya know. Also, if I have a problem with a backup or a backup drive, I perform another backup immediately to a different location. Finally, I use an external hard drive for backups.