What to consider before you execute a backup

I hope by now those of you who are Good Boot backup trainees have mastered the art of relocating all your important "Stuff" into appropriate sub folders you’ve created in XP My Documents or Vista’s Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos as it’s time to move on to tutorial 4, a discussion of what you should consider before actually executing a backup activity.

I suggest novices need only consider three options when making a determination on how to backup there irreplaceable Stuff.

Option one (Exact Copy) is a backup that creates an exact copy of XP’s My Documents data or Vista’s Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos and perhaps Favorites, Contacts and Games data to an external hard drive.

After you make your first Exact Copy backup and prior to making subsequent Exact Copy backups your backup program will scan the data on your external hard drive and compare it to data you’re backing up from your computer. The data it finds on your external hard drive that’s no longer included in the data you’ll be backing up from your computer will be deleted. The result is the data on your external hard drive will match exactly the data on your computer.

Option two is a backup that simply adds all new data to an external backup device. I call it archiving.

After you make your first Archive backup when you initiate subsequent Archive backups your backup program will simple copy all the new data from you computer to your external hard drive without deleting any data from the external hard drive.

Obviously both options have merit.

Option one provides an opportunity, should it be necessary, to restore your computer’s XP My Documents or Vista Documents, Pictures, Music and Video data to exactly the state it was when you made your most current backup.

Option two provides a safety net. When properly used it will insure the data you deleted from your computer and your eternal hard drive during an Exact backup will be available should you need it.

In my opinion Option three a backup regimen that includes both options should be your choice.
With the advent of large capacity, inexpensive external hard drives this option is a must.

Next week I’ll explain how to do both using Second Copy an inexpensive software program that’s so user friendly I guarantee you’ll never again be the victim of lost data.

Download a free trial at www.secondcopy.com.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

Free programs help with backup

In this Part 3 of my Backing up tutorial I’ll mention a few additional free backup utility programs I recommend you consider.

Google’s Chrome: To backup Chrome’s Bookmarks (Favorites) you can click on the little wrench (Customize and control Google Chrome) in the upper right of Chrome’s menu bar. Then click on Bookmark manager, Tools and Export Bookmarks. By default you may be directed to your Download folder. I suggest you relocate the Bootmarks.html file
to a Chrome Bookmark sub folder in your Documents/My Documents folder.

But if you’d like an excellent free Chrome backup utility that has a wizard to guide you through the steps necessary to backup Chrome’s Bookmarks to a Documents\My Documents sub folder you’ve created, go to Parhelia Tools (www.parhelia tools.com). This little utility will create, backup, restore and manage Chrome profiles which include history and bookmarks. It also creates a convenient Desktop shortcut to remind you to keep your Chrome data backup current.

Note: BackRex for IE 7/8 (www.backsettings.com) is a free utility that’ll guide you through the steps necessary to backup IE’s favorites, history auto passwords and cookies.

Belarc (www.belarc.com/free_download.html) and WinAudit (www.pxserver.com) are two free utilities that’ll build a profile of your computer hardware and software.
* Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks.
* WinAudit is a software program that provides an in-depth audit of your computer.

Note: I suggest you use Belarc Advisor as a handy source of information for your technician should you have a problem. Rather than store its data in your Documents\My Documents, print the data out for easy access should your system crash.

WinAudit on the other hand produces a document too lengthy to be printed. My WinAudit is 1600 PDF pages. Store WinAudit in a Documents\My Document sub folder. It’s value is its "soup to nuts" inventory of your computer available should you or our technician need information on anything from hardware to software. It’s awesome.
* Erunt (Emergency Recovery Utility NT): Google it for a down load site. Erunt backs up your registry to restore if needed. Because it keeps each Registry backup in a separate folder, I have found it to be more reliable than XP\Vista System Restore utility.

Note: Vista users must right click on Erunt’s shortcut and click on "Run as Administrator".

Here's wishing you a Good Boot 　

Unique ways to relocate data files

In this Part 2 of my backing up tutorial series I’ll discuss a few popular programs that require a unique way to relocate their data files.
If you missed Part 1 and\or Part 1½, you'll find them on my blog (www.news-press.com/goodboot).
1. Internet Explorer Favorites:
* Click File > Import and Export.
* Click Export Favorites from the Import/Export Wizard.
* Highlight the "Favorites Folder" and click Next.
* Click "Export to File or Address".
* Click "Browse" to find the subfolder "Favorites" you created in your Documents\My Documents.
* Click on your "Favorites" subfolder to "Open" it.
* Click Save (bookmark.htm) and Finish.
Note: It’s not absolutely necessary to relocate your Internet Explorer "Favorites" to Documents if you’re a Vista user. I’ll explain why when I walk you through an actual backup.
2. Outlook Express Address Book:
* Click on "Addresses" to open your Address Book
* Click File > Export > Address Book (.WAB). By default you'll be taken to My Documents.
* Click on the "Address Book" subfolder you created in My Documents to "Open" it.
* Type in a file name and save it.
3. Windows Mail Address Book: As you’ll see when I walk you through an actual backup, you do not have to relocate your "Contacts" to your Documents.
4. Important E-Mail in Outlook Express:
* Open the e-mail you want to save.
* Click File > Save As.
* My Documents will open.
* Click on the "Important e-mail" subfolder you created in My Documents to "Open" it
* Either accept the File name presented or give it an alternative name.
* Click the little down triangle to the right of the "Save as type" drop down box and select .txt.
* Click Save.
4. Windows Mail:
* Open the e-mail you want to save.
* Click File > Save As.
* The "Save Message As" panel will open.
* Either accept the File name presented or give it an alternative name.
* Click the little down triangle to the right of the "Save as type" drop down box and select .txt.
* Click on "Browse Folders" which will take you to your Documents.
* Click on the "Important e-mail" subfolder you created in Documents to "Open" it
* Click Save.
Note the reason I suggest you save your Outlook Express or Windows Mail important e-mail in text format is that text can be read on any computer under any circumstances. The .eml format requires a computer to have Outlook Express or Windows Mail installed.
Next week I’ll cover addition programs requiring a unique way to relocate their data files to Documents\My Documents.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

Creating sub folders for backup

Last week’s Backing up Part 1 tutorial generated so many requests for additional information

on how to create subfolders and how to relocate files to subfolders, I’m going to put my Backing up tutorials on hold for a week and respond.

Creating Documents\My Documents, Pictures\My Pictures, Music\My Music and Videos\My Videos subfolders is the best way to organize text, image, and sound files.

For example: You want to organize your family photos in your Pictures\My Pictures subfolder by creating a subfolder “My Family Photos” which in turn will have a “Good Family” and a “Bad Family subfolder.

First left click on your Pictures\My Pictures subfolder to highlight it and then click File, New, Folder and type in “My Family Photos”. Next highlight your new “My Family Photos” subfolder and click File, New, Folder and type in “Good Family”. Then repeat the process and type in “Bad Family”. That’s all there is to it.

There’s almost no limit to the number of subfolders and subfolders of subfolders you can create to organize your text, image and sound files.

Once you’ve created subfolders and if needed subfolders of subfolders for your text, image and sound files, naming, saving and placing a new text, image or sound file into an appropriate subfolder is achieved by clicking on File, “Save As”.

When you click on File, “Save As” a panel will appear. Among the presentations will be a highlighted generic name for the file e.g., in Word’s panel it’ll be Doc1.doc or Doc1.docx with a suggested Documents\My Documents default location to place it. Simply type a name for the file over the highlighted file.

Once you’ve named a file there will be little down triangles should you need to change the File’s Name and\or Type and more often than not, a view of your Documents\My Documents folder to scroll through to find the appropriate subfolder to place the file.

Although you may be presented with a variety of “Save As” panels, most application provide in one way or another an opportunity to name, save and relocate its files.

Note: You can also name a new file and then save it and place it into an appropriate sub folder by clicking on File, “Save”. However I suggest you use “Save As” the first time you name, save and locate a new file and use “Save” to quickly save an edited file you have already named and placed in an appropriate sub folder.

Here’s wishing you a Good boot.

Learn how to create subfolders

This and the next few Good Boots will be dedicated to those who are continuing to have a problem making sense of all the good bad and ugly advice they’ve received concerning how to back up what they should back up to where its best to back it up to.

As always I’ll attempt to address the issues that seem to trouble novices the most.

Although it’s not necessary, if you’re a novice and want to participate in the actual backup portion of my tutorial I suggest you:

1. Download a free trial version of Second Copy at www.secondcopy.com. Because it’s extraordinarily novice friendly and doesn’t create proprietary files, I’ll be using Second Copy to illustrate exact and archive backups.

2. Consider purchasing an external hard drive. External hard drives have the capacity necessary to backup all your stuff and are portable.

To begin our adventure and if you’ve not done so already I want you to create Document/My Document subfolders for every program you use to create data e.g., Word, Excel, Quicken, and Outlook. Programs that have a “Save As” option on their File menu. Be sure to include an IE or Chrome Favorites and Important e-mail sub folders. The purpose of this exercise is to get you in the habit of saving all your application data to a corresponding subfolder.

If you’re so inclined you can even create subfolders of subfolders to organize data created by an application e.g., letters to family, letters to the IRS et cetera as sub folders of you Word subfolder.

How enthusiastically you organize your “Stuff” is up to you. But know there’s no such thing as your Document/My Documents folder being too organized.

And for those who have procrastinated organizing their Pictures/My Pictures folder, you might consider beginning a subfolder organization of your photos. However, my tutorials will not require you too organizing your Pictures/My Pictures “shoe box” display of photos as for many it might take the remaining years of their life.

E-mail me if you have a problem organizing any particular application’s data.

Next, install Second Copy and be sure to make a Second Copy subfolder in Documents/My Documents. If you have the time take a look at the Second Copy tutorials on their Web site, but know I’ll be providing a detailed, uncomplicated way to apply the application.

Finally, create two folders on your external hard drive - Exact backup and Archive backup.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

Can't do without this free utility

I’m going to once again attempt to entice those who have not done so already to download Revo Uninstaller (www.revouninstaller.com) as I believe it’s one of the most valuable “free” utilities available.

Revo’s most significant feature is its ability to scan your computer and present for deletion a list of left over unnecessary files, folders and registry keys associated with a deleted application. However its ability to provide information about any installed application is a feature I believe to be almost as significant.

By right clicking on any application you can select from a menu:

* “About Link”: Accesses your web browser and displays the address containing information about the application.

* “Help Link”: Accesses your web browser and displays the address containing help information.

* “Update Link”: Accesses your web browser and displays the address providing update information.

* “Google Search” Initiates a search for the application’s name, producer or source of the application.

* “Windows Explorer”: To see where the selected application is installed.

* “Registry Key”: Accesses your registry editor and displays the registry key containing the uninstall information about the selected application.

Other Revo’s features include:

* Junk Files Cleaner: Revo will find and remove junk and unnecessary files on a selected drive(s) using either its default file extensions or those you select.

* Auto Run Manager: Not only enable or disable applications from auto starting on Windows startup, but also provides an opportunity for you to obtain information about the publisher of the auto starting program, its description and its launch path. If the information provided isn’t sufficient for you to decide whether or not to enable or disable the program from auto running, you can obtain additional information about the publisher and the executable file name directly via a Google search by right clicking on the application.

* MS Office Cleaner: If you do not want somebody to see your last opened or edited MS Office spreadsheets, documents or other files, you can select those you do not want others to see and remove them from the Recent Documents list by clicking the “Clear” button.

* Windows Cleaner: Removes history and temporary files.

* Evidence Remover: Will permanently erase files and folders you have deleted but remain physically on your hard disk. The data erased is impossible to recover.

* Unrecoverable Delete: Erases files and/or folders you individually select for permanent deletion . The deleted data is impossible to recover .

Revo is a must have utility!

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

When selecting Google or Microsoft select both

When Google released Chrome it’s Internet Browser I found it to be superior to Internet Explorer 7. But now after putting Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 though it’s paces, I must admit it would be difficult for me to recommend one over the other. In fact when Good Booters ask for a recommendation, I suggest they install both and determine for themselves which flavor they find most satisfying.

I do suggest however, novices wait a bit before installing IE8 to allow time for Microsoft to eliminate bugs typically discovered after the release of any significant software application.

Regardless of which browser you finally settle on be aware there’s a significant difference in the way each backs up your Favorites\Bookmarks.

To backup Chrome’s Bookmarks, click on the little wrench (Customize and control Google Chrome) in the upper right of Chrome’s menu bar. Click on Bookmark manager, Tools and Export Bookmarks. By default you may be directed to your Download folder. I suggest you create a Chrome Bookmark folder in your Documents/My Documents folder and relocate the Bootmarks.html file to it.

To Back up Internet Explorer’s Favorites and if you’re so inclined, Cookies and Feeds, click on File, Import and Export and follow the Wizard’s instructions. Favorites, Cookies and Feeds must be individually backed up. I also recommend you create an exclusive folder in your Documents/My Documents folder to relocate IE’s Bootmarks.htm, Cookies.txt and Feeds.opml. When IE’s Wizard requests “Export to a file or address” click Browse and select the folder you created.

To Import Chrome and IE Bookmarks/Favorites and IE’s Cookies and Feeds select Import rather than Export when following the steps listed above.

Now for those who like myself are paranoid about losing data and backup their backups with a backup or for those who are contemplating an new computer and would like to relocate their current Chrome and/or IE Profiles to another computer, I recommend in addition to backing up Bookmarks/Favorites, Cookies and Feeds, you consider a complete backup up all of Chrome’s Profile e.g., personal data like history, bookmarks, etc. and Internet Explorer’s favorites, history, proxy settings, fonts, dialup accounts, autocomplete passwords and cookies. 

Parhelia Tools (www.parhelia-tools.com) for Chrome and BackRex for IE 7/8 (www.backsettings.com) are “free” utilities that will Backup and Restore these Browsers in their entirety.

Both of these utilities provide user friendly wizards to walk you through their backup (to I suggest an exclusive folder in your Documents/My Documents folder) and restore.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

MessageSave great add-on for Outlook

Traditionally I’ve been reluctant to recommend software that costs $50 or more. But because I’ve discovered an extraordinarily user friendly, multi option Outlook add on that saves e-mail messages to XP’s My Documents and Vista’s Documents, I’m going to make an exception.

Until I installed MessageSave I went through the tedious task of individually saving important e-mail by clicking on File > Save as and relocating it to the appropriate sub folder of my “Important E-mail” folder. But now with MessageSave I can save individual messages, multiple messages or all the messages in an Outlook sub folder and relocate them to My Documents/Documents, an external Hard Drive/Jump Drive or DVD/CD-R. And by the way do the same for all my Outlook Contacts, Tasks and Calendars.

In addition to being able to save and relocate individual, multiple and all messages in an Outlook folder with only a couple of clicks, MessageSave:

* Offers flexible and customizable file and subfolder naming.

* Saves messages in .msg, .txt, .eml, mbox (mbox format support requires Outlook 2002 or newer), vCard (.vcf) and iCalendar (.ics) formats.

* Works on sent and received messages.

* Files include the entire message content, including attachments.

* Is compatible with Windows Desktop Search.

* Works on Public Folders.

* Automatically save messages with rule wizard rules (custom rule action) or using a scheduler.

MessageSave (www.techhit.com) requires Windows 2000, XP or Vista with the latest Service Pack and is compatible with Outlook 2000 SP3, 2002 (XP SP3), 2003 SP3 and 2007 SP1. It does not work with Outlook Express.

It costs $49.95, but does have a 30 day free trial.

In my opinion if you receive important e-mail, MessageSave is an Outlook add on you should investigate.

A Good Boot heads up. Our final User Group meeting of the season will be dedicated to an informal Q&A session. Our consulting technicians will be available to answer all your computer, computing, digital camera and digital editing questions. You’re even invited to bring your laptop and/or digital camera should you need hands on help.

As long as you do not preface your questions with “this is a stupid question”, I guarantee our technicians will be more than happy to insure you enjoy a Summer of Good Boots by providing the in depth assistance you’ll need to solve your problem(s).

Our meeting is May 14th, 6:00 PM in the Lee Memorial Hospital auditorium on Cleveland Ave is free and open to the public. No registration required.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

You may not need a new computer to use Windows 7

In my opinion Microsoft’s success in providing a “Vista fix” is truly amazing.

In fact, the more I become acquainted with Windows 7 the more I believe if it delivers all it has promised, unless your need for a new computer is imperative you should wait until it’s release before making a decision to purchase a new computer.

Windows 7 promises greater ease of use and reliability rather than a plethora of new resource demanding bells and whistles. This means that unlike all the previous major Windows upgrades that required more powerful computers, Windows 7 will work with slower microprocessors and fit into less hard-drive space. 

By being less demanding of your computers resources, you may discover you will not have to purchase a new computer to access the new features of Windows 7. And even more important because Windows 7 will run on a full range of PCs to include inexpensive netbooks, you may be able to purchase an extraordinarily pocketbook friendly computer that provides most of the features of Windows 7.

Another feature of Windows 7 I consider to be “good news” is its “Anytime Upgrade”.

Because of the smaller size of Windows 7, three versions will be loaded on even lower-end computers. 

Should a user running the “Standard” version upgrade their hardware perhaps a high-definition monitor or need to simultaneously run more than 3 state of the art resource demanding software programs, they’ll be prompted to upgrade to the pricier “Home Premium” or “Ultimate” version.

In other words, you’ll not have to purchase the 800 pound gorilla version of Windows 7 until you actually need it.

And if you discover you do need to upgrade and decide you want to upgrade, Microsoft will make the process much more user friendly than the Vista upgrade process. You need only enter your credit- card information, a 25-character code, make a few keystrokes and reboot.

A Good Boot alert: So many Good Booters expressed disappointed at not being able to attend our User Group eBay presentation, I’ve prevailed on David and Gena to offer a second free seminar. 

It’ll be held on May 7th, 6PM at the Beacon Executive Suites, 8359 Beacon Blvd, Fort Myers, (Next to Villas Elementary School). You can register by phone, 590-988 or e-mail David@eBayGuy.net. 

David and Gena will also be offering Good Booters an extraordinary discount on their 6 hour “Learn to Sell on eBay the Right Way” series of seminars.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.

Installing x64 can cause more problems than it solves

It seems many Good Booters have been ill-advised by uninformed retailers that because their new computer has a 64-bit processor they should install the 64-bit version of Vista.

This advise may sound reasonable as the x64 version of Vista has increased security and programs written for 64-bit processors will likely run faster. 

Unfortunately however, if you’re a novice installing Vista x64 on a 64-bit system can cause more problem than it’ll solve.

And here’s why.

1. Most existing hardware do not have 64-bit drivers e.g., networking devices, DVD burners, audio cards and card readers.   

2. Vista x64 requires that all drivers be properly “signed”. If they’re not they’ll probably fail to load even if when booting you attempt to use the F8 option to “Disable Driver Signatures”.

3. Vista x64 currently does not backward support most x86 (32-bit) drivers.

Note: Most 64-bit systems will run most Vista 32-bit applications. However, Vista x64 currently does not run x86 (32 bit) drivers.

4. Vista x64 doesn’t support 16-bit software.

5. Currently there are very few Vista x64 bit software programs.

If you’re able to achieve the perfect mix and match (x64 software on a x64 system with a Vista x64 operating system) you’ll experience a significant performance boost. But because there are so few x64 software programs, I suggest to novices that attempting to achieve the perfect mix and match should not be a high priority.

If all this 32-bit, 64-bit stuff is a “bit” confusing, my advice for the time being is to stay away from a x64-bit hardware computer or if you do purchase a x64-bit computer, install the 32-bit (x86) version of Vista.

I’m sure however I’ll not confuse anyone if I suggest they consider a software program that determines the health of their hard drive(s).

Hard Drive Inspector (www.altrixsoft.com) is a novice friendly program that monitors hard drive health. It’s appropriate for Windows XP and Vista and costs only $29.95 for Desktops and $39.95 for Laptops. 

Most modern hard drives support S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology). It detects potential hard drive failure. Hard Drive Inspector accesses this technology to monitor the current state of various life- critical parameters e.g., reliability and performance. It provides timely alerts allowing you to perform an expeditious backup of your data and hard drive replacement. 

You can download a 15-day trial.

Here’s wishing you a Good boot.