On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 13:35:39 +0100, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

I save anything vital like my business accounts on to a memory stick, but I
don't backup general stuff - which could be an inconvenience if anything
happened.

I have Norton 360 which has a built in back up feature - but it doesn't
work. Drives me mad.

Everytime it reaches the stage 'Insert DVD' it them claims the DVD isn't
empty. Tried loads of different makes & the DVD slot works OK with
everything else.

So, would I be better off with one of these online backup companies or
buying some kind of external device?

If the latter, any suggestions to a PC numpty?
I use Genie Backup Manager, and take an image of my C: drive every so
often (manually initiated), plus an automatic backup every time I
first login each day. The automatic backups are of selected folders
and files (ie my data files, email database, pictures, config files
etc) but not program files, which don't change very often. For these
data backups I have set the backup software to create a full backup
every 30 days, with intervening daily incremental backups (only files
that have changed). Individual files or folders can be
restored/recovered in addition to complete backups. Full backups are
kept for 12 months and incrementals deleted after the following three
full backups.

I use" Karens Once a Day"
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptoad.asp
to trigger the Genie backup the first time I login each day, leter
versions of Genie may now have this feature built in.

Slightly older versions of Genie backup can be found for free on
magazine cover disks and online. It runs in the background so you can
carry on working. Acronis True Image is an alternative, also available
free for older versions.

All my backups are to a usb hard drive, then every so often I also
copy the monthly backup files to a remote (and physically hidden at
the other end of the house) NAS drive in case my PC and usb drive gets
damaged or nicked.

Bit belt and braces, but both the usb and NAS drives get used for
other things as well, so not over expensive.

Big drives are so cheap now it's really not worth bothering with tape,
and they are pretty reliable. I've never trusted remote backup
solutions, so not tried them.