got security checks inside, so i dont mind/care

I've been using Raid 0 for years and never had any fail (que epic raid fail when I finish typing this). To say if one drive fails you loose everything is a bit stupid, if you have a single drive and it fails, you loose everything as well just the same. Raid 5 is better, security wise, but if he only has 2 drives, he can't do that. Also, if it's for backups only, then surely you have a copy of it all on your pc(s) anyway if the raid did let go ...

I believe I have backed up only once, when I had a 700Mhz XP and a 500Mhz XP. I don't have much (if any) stuff to lose, though.

I store all my important files on 2x 500GB external hard drives. I copy the files whenever I remember or when they are created.

Question, how do you get this setup working exactly? This would be perfect for my backup server!

after xp sp3 update i did it.Creating an image of the system infact , general data backup will wait at least 3 months.
I use another drive 4 backup .

i havent backed up in a while - the last time i backed up was right before/after upgrading to vista. i should have done the same when i upgraded ulitmate (not quite legally), but i didnt. oh well, im sure ill do it soon

Whoops, its been a while. Time to backup people.

Reminder to backup people, seeing as my iPod's harddrive is dying -_-

Bad but true backup story of the day: (this happened a few days ago. to me.)

I was formatting my friend's notebook. I didn't have the equipment with me to take a Ghost image of the HDD, and also I couldn't run any backup software on the machine since it would freeze within a minute of booting, so I thought I nearly couldn't do it. Anyway, I decided to use the HP restore partition to go back to a fresh copy of Vista. During the restore process it gave me the option to back up everything to a portable HDD, so I chose it. I really didn't want to do this, I would have much preferred to back everything up with Ghost, but I didn't have much of a choice. It backed up all the personal files to the HDD, and then wiped the machine and restored a fresh-but-bloated copy of Vista. Now the backup won't restore. The software included in the backup (it copies the restore wizard EXE to the backup folder) refuses to run on Vista, and I've got a suspicion that because the external HDD is FAT32 then there might be only the first 4GB of data (though it is supposed to split it into multiple files, there's only one file there, and it's about 4GB).

Moral of the story: never trust any OEM bundled/branded backup software. It's most likely a piece of [censored]. Always back up your files either as flat files to a DVD/USB drive/external HDD, or pack them in RARs or some other format which can be opened by more than one piece of software. Also make two backups just in case.

Okay, here's a great example of why to backup:

My friend from work bought a new cell phone about a month ago, so they have been using the newer phone. Meanwhile, she was waiting for her new laptop to come in to backup all the content (such as photos, texts, etc.) onto the new computer. Since then, her brother wanted to borrow the phone since his died, so she told him to wait. Regardless, he took the SIM CARD OUT, and EVERYTHING ON THE PHONE WAS DELETED!!!! Now, all of her photos and memories are GONE.

So don't only back up your computer, but also your phone, video game systems (such as Xbox 360 with the Memory Card or Wii/PS3 with SD cards), and any important information!

Currently, I am using a MyBook from WD to store all of my computers's hard drives onto one compact backup device. So far, so good! I even got to take a few files from the school computers that I needed very easily since I won't be attending a High School ever again. lol

How can taking a sim out of a phone delete photos etc? I know it'll delete phone numbers and text messages ...but photos?

I unfortunately haven't backed up recently.. With 1TB data collective in a RAID 0, I'm really setting myself up for a catastrophic loss. I'm hoping to switch to a RAID 5 (4x640GB drives probably) eventually, but funds are a bit tight at the moment.

No, and now I've had a power surge and my computer won't boot.

[censored] great!

I guess if the phone was using RAM for storage?

*backs up now*

*Doesn't back up*
Seriously, everything on my PC that I care about is on disc so there's no real reason that I need to back up. The only backing up related issue involved Western Digital hard drives and Happy Days episodes. My mother loved Happy Days so for her birthday, I copied some episodes off a DVD I borrowed from the library. The hard drive was faulty from day 1 and kept konking out for no apparent reason and I guess I wasn't fast enough on burning all those Happy Days episodes onto DVD before the hard drive died.

I backup my computer once a month with acronis true image to my Extern HD, and I make twice a week a backup of my schoolfiles with Windows Vista Backup to my Extern HD.

I think it is very good to do it like this, so you have always your important files, and you can always restore a good point.

Again, my failure to backup has cost me data. I only lost about 10gb this time, but still.
The drive is completely dead, atleast the controller board. It gets incredibly hot, but the drive refuses to spin up.

If only marktuson backed up he wouldnt have lost his data to a virus

Time to backup I guess

I'd back up my hard drive if I had another HDD to back it up to. I'm not made of money (meaning I can't simply buy a new drive - hell, I'd probably just get a new computer if I had money), and I can't add a second HDD to my computer (it's an old Dell Latitude laptop), so...?

I never back up. My same hard drive with gigs of important data crashes three times and I used a recovery software every time. Hopefully one day I'll learn to back up.

I back up every week, there are 2 years ago, i lost 4 years of data one week before create a backup ... since I make a backup on two hard drive, one after the other.
And I Have on a external 2.5" Hard Drive all of my data.

Data are not price ...

I probably should've paid attention to this topic a week or so ago, I just had a 500GB HDD decide to play the clicky clicky game with me. Ho-hum, I'll learn eventually.

I never backup. Because I just format my OS once a week usually (omg, XP Pro has been on here the longest )

Why do you reinstall every week?

Virusses? Pirated Windows??

If you install it correctly, take a ghost image you dont have to reinstall the entire computer and all updates and programs.