"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message ...
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?

So far nobody seems to have mentioned the backup utility which comes
included with Windows.
Control Panel has a backup and restore feature which can back up part or
all of your filestore.
This is fairly simple and straightforward - AFAIK the add on products are
aimed at providing more features than you get as standard with Windows.
If you only want the occasional backup then use the built in software.
If you want automated scheduled backups which only pick up files which
have changed (incremental) then you may need more sophisticated software.

How much do you want to back up?
If it is more than will fit on a single DVD then you may have to back up
different parts of your system to different DVDs.
One way is to back up to your internal disc (if you have space) then copy
the backup file(s) to DVD.

I haven't backed anything up recently so I haven't used the tool under
Windows Vista but it looks to have enough features.

With your Norton 360 is it possible that you are trying to back up more
than one DVD's worth of data and the software is too stupid to tell you
this clearly? Perhaps try backing up a small area of filestore and see if
this works?

HTH

Dave R
What you do for back up depends on what your priorities are, ie is it years
worth of business information that would be a pain if you lost or is it the
windows system?

I back up important information but not the windows system as one can access
via another PC if need be.
I also take the view that if my PC goes bang then a back up within that PC
will more than likely be lost as well.
So what I have done is this....
My important stuff is backed up on an old hardrive installed alongside the
hardrive in my PC, back up No 1.
I then have an external hardive (cost around £40) which is a further back up
so I could take this to another PC if necessary to access my important
information, back up No 2.

I feel this covers me as I now have 2 back ups, one in my pc and if that
goes up in flames I have my external as well.