Data Backup Software and Service

To computer users, there are many ways you can unintentionally lose your data, such as careless deletion, formatted, lost partition, virus infection, unexpected shutdown, etc. Then backup utility will give a full display when you data lost. If you regularly make backup copies of your files and keep them in a separate place, you can still get your data back in the event something happens to the originals on your computer.
Users can choose to back up all the files on your computer depending on yourself. You can backup Operating System, your Bank records and other financial information, digital photographs, software you purchased and downloaded from the Internet, music you purchased and downloaded from the Internet, personal projects, your e-mail address book, your Microsoft Outlook calendar, your Internet Explorer bookmarks, etc.
After backing up your data to the external hard disk drive, CDs, DVDs, or some other storage format, once your data got lost or damaged, you can still restore your data form where you backup.
After you've decided what you want to back up and where you're going to back up, you're ready to learn how to back up. There are many ways for users to backup, such as on-line backup, backup software, using the backup utility built in Windows Operating System. In the following, I will give an introduction about how to use EASEUS Disk Copy to copy your disk to another.
EASEUS Disk Copy allows you to backup one disk to another: Burn DC2.iso into your CD, and insert it into your CD-ROM; Set the first Boot Device in BIOS as CD-ROM, and restart the computer; Choose "Start Disk Copy 2.3" by using Enter; Choose "Disk Copy" and click "Next"; Select Source Disk that you want to copy; Choose the Destination Disk, and then "Next"; To preview the result. If it is right, then Click "Proceed" and do the confirmation.

Then your disk will be successfully copied.

Purpose: This tutorial is designed to provide a quick and easy way to back up your Microsoft® Outlook® or Outlook Express® e-mail. For many of us, our e-mail is our lifeline to our business. It is important to make regular backups in case of a hardware or software failure. You never know how important your e-mail is until you lose it.
This tutorial will also provide a means to easily restore you e-mail and contacts. For example, you may need to restore your e-mail and contacts following a system rebuild or you may simply want to move your information to a different computer.

Cost: Free, nothing to purchase.

Time: 10 Minute

Requirements: Ability to navigate Windows and copy folders and files.

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2007
BACKUP
The following procedure is valid only for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. You can determine which version you are using by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Outlook.

The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data (when you're using Outlook without Microsoft® Exchange Server). Each Personal Folder file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), and you may also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named "Archive Folders"). By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information.

In previous versions of Outlook, it was difficult to locate the folder containing the personal folder files. Developers have made this task much easier in Outlook 2007.

There are two ways to access the location of your data files. In the main menu, you can either click File > Data File Management... or Tools > Account Settings...

If not already selected, click on the "Data Files" tab. You may have a single data file or multiple data files. These "Data Files" are where you store your email messages, calendar, tasks and other items.

Highlight the data file that you are interested in backing up and click on the "Open Folder..." icon. Clicking on this icon will automatically launch Windows Explorer and take you to the location where this data file is stored.

Within the folder you should find an outlook.pst file . Burn this file to a CDROM disk or other backup source. If you archive your email, be sure to backup the archive.pst file as well. Prior to backing up these files, Outlook will need to be closed.
The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up in addition to your Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files. Depending upon your configuration some or all of these files may be present in your Outlook directory.

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Type of File Name or Extension
Personal Folders .pst files
Outlook Bar shortcuts .fav files
Rules Wizard rules .rwz files
RSS subscription names .sharing.xml.obi files
Known feed list for RSS .xml.kfl files
Nicknames .nick files
Customized toolbar settings outcmd.dat
Customized system folder views Views.dat
Macros and VBA programs VbaProject.otm
Signatures .rtf, .htm, and .txt files
Stationary .htm files
Templates .oft files
Dictionary .dic files
Stores a reference to which extensions (addins) you have loaded.
extend.dat files

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Compatibility Note
Microsoft introduced a new .pst format with the release of Office 2003 which has a greater storage capacity and supports multilingual Unicode (Unicode: A character encoding standard that enables multiple languages to be represented by using a single character set.). Personal folder files (.pst) created using Office 2003 or 2007 will not be able to be opened by earlier versions of Office. To create a data file that is compatible with Outlook 2002 and earlier, you must first create a new data file in the Outlook 97-2002 format using the "Add" icon in the Data Files dialog box. Then you must select File > Import and Export from the main menu and import your email from the 2003/2007 .pst data file to the new 97-2002 data file that you just created. Visit this link for more information.

RESTORE
If you have followed the steps above to backup your Outlook data, restoring is simple. All you do is copy the backup PST file(s) into the folder that you located when you initially backed up your work.

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2003
BACKUP
The following procedures are valid only for Outlook with Internet Mail Only option. You can determine this by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Outlook.

The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data (when you're using Outlook without Microsoft® Exchange Server). Each Personal Folder file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), and you may also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named "Archive Folders"). By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information . The hard part is locating the files...
You can find the location of this file by:
Right-clicking on the Outlook Today icon found in your Outlook shortcuts, or the Outlook Today icon found in your folder list and then left-click "Properties".
Once the Properties dialog box is displayed, click the "Advanced" button.

The "Path...", shown below by the red arrow, indicates where your Personal Folder file can be found.

Write this path down and navigate to the designated folder (Outlook in this example)
OR
use your mouse cursor to copy (CTRL + C) and paste (CTRL + V) the path into Windows Explorer. Then, delete the "outlook.pst" at the end of the path and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Explorer will automatically open the folder containing your Personal Folder.

Within the folder you should find an outlook.pst file . Copy and paste this file to a Zip disk or other backup source. It will probably be too large to copy to a floppy disk. If you archive your email, be sure to backup the archive.pst file as well.
The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up in addition to your Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files. Depending upon your configuration some or all of these files may be present in your Outlook directory.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Type of File Name or Extension
Personal Folders .pst files
Outlook Bar shortcuts .fav files
Rules Wizard rules .rwz files
Nicknames .nick files
Customized toolbar settings outcmd.dat
Customized system folder views Views.dat
Macros and VBA programs VbaProject.otm
Signatures .rtf, .htm, and .txt files
Stationary .htm files
Templates .oft files
Dictionary .dic files
Stores a reference to which extensions (addins) you have loaded.
extend.dat files

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESTORE
If you have followed the steps above to backup your Outlook data, restoring is simple. All you do is copy the backup PST file(s) into the folder that you located when you initially backed up your work.
Keep in mind that if you overwrite your existing PST file with your backup PST file, any new data since the time of the backup will be deleted. If you have recent data that is not on the backup copy of your PST file and you don't want to loose the recent data, then you can use the "Import" command to add data instead of overwriting data.
Click on File > Import and Export...
Highlight "Import from another program or file" and click "Next>".

Highlight "Personal Folder File (.pst)" and click "Next>".

Browse to the PST file that you desire to import, and click "Next>".

If needed, repeat the process for other PST files such as your archive.pst.

AUTOMATED
BACKUP
Microsoft has provided an automated backup application for Outlook 2000/2002 users. Simply download and install the program and you will be able to perform routine backups of all your Personal Folders.

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK 2000
BACKUP
The following proceedures are valid only for Outlook with Internet Mail Only option. You can determine this by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Outlook.

The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data (when you're using Outlook without Microsoft® Exchange Server). Each Personal Folder file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), and you may also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named "Archive Folders"). By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information . The hard part is locating the files...
You can find the location of this file by:
Right-clicking on the Outlook Today icon found in your Outlook shortcuts, or the Outlook Today icon found in your folder list and then left-click "Properties".
Once the Properties dialog box is displayed, click the "Advanced" button.

The "Path...", shown below by the red arrow, indicates where your Personal Folder file can be found.

Write this path down and navigate to the designated folder (Outlook in this example)
OR
use your mouse cursor to copy (CTRL + C) and paste (CTRL + V) the path into Windows Explorer. Then, delete the "outlook.pst" at the end of the path and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Explorer will automatically open the folder containing your Personal Folder.

Within the folder you should find an outlook.pst file . Copy and paste this file to a Zip disk or other backup source. It will probably be too large to copy to a floppy disk. If you archive your email, be sure to backup the archive.pst file as well.
The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up in addition to your Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files. Depending upon your configuration some or all of these files may be present in your Outlook directory.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Type of File Name or Extension
Personal Folders .pst files
Outlook Bar shortcuts .fav files
Rules Wizard rules .rwz files
Nicknames .nick files
Customized toolbar settings outcmd.dat
Customized system folder views Views.dat
Macros and VBA programs VbaProject.otm
Signatures .rtf, .htm, and .txt files
Stationary .htm files
Templates .oft files
Dictionary .dic files
Stores a reference to which extensions (addins) you have loaded.
extend.dat files

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESTORE
If you have followed the steps above to backup your Outlook data, restoring is simple. All you do is copy the backup PST file(s) into the folder that you located when you initially backed up your work.
Keep in mind that if you overwrite your existing PST file with your backup PST file, any new data since the time of the backup will be deleted. If you have recent data that is not on the backup copy of your PST file and you don't want to loose the recent data, then you can use the "Import" command to add data instead of overwriting data.
Click on File > Import and Export...
Highlight "Import from another program or file" and click "Next>".

Highlight "Personal Folder File (.pst)" and click "Next>".

Browse to the PST file that you desire to import, and click "Next>".

If needed, repeat the process for other PST files such as your archive.pst.

AUTOMATED
BACKUP
Microsoft has provided an automated backup application for Outlook 2000/2002 users. Simply download and install the program and you will be able to perform routine backups of all your Personal Folders.

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS
BACKUP
The following proceedures were tested on Microsoft® Outlook Express® 6.0. The author makes no guarantees that this proceedure will work on other versions. However, the key element to backing up your data is locating the correct folder and files. Once this is accomplished, you simply copy the folder to your backup location.
You can find out which version of Outlook Express you are running by starting the program and then clicking on Help > About Microsoft Outlook Express.
Microsoft Outlook Express stores your email, newsletter and contact information is a single folder. Within this folder there are individual database files (*.dbx) for each folder contained in Outlook Express. For example, there will exist an Inbox.dbx, an Outbox.dbx, a Contacts.dbx and a variety of others including any new folders that you have created using Outlook Express (if you created a "Friends" folder there will be a corresponding Friends.dbx file). By backing up these database files you will be backing up all your Outlook information . The hard part is locating the files...
You can locate the folder containing these files by:
Opening Outlook Express and clicking on Tools > Options.

Click on the Maintenance Tab and then on the "Store Folder" button.

You will be presented with a "Store Location" window displaying the path to the folder containing the database files.

Using your mouse cursor, select the entire path, then copy (CTRL + C) and paste (CTRL + V) the path into Windows Explorer (Explorer can be found here: Start > Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer). Erase the "Outlook Express" from the end of the path and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Explorer will automatically open the folder containing your Outlook Express folder that you need to back up. .

Copy and paste this folder to a Zip disk or other backup source. It will probably be too large to copy to a floppy disk.

RESTORE
If you have followed the steps above to backup your Outlook Express data, restoring is simple. All you do is copy the backup Outlook Express folder into the folder that you located when you initially backed up your work.
Keep in mind that if you overwrite your existing Outlook Express folder with your backup folder, any new data since the time of the backup will be deleted. If you have recent data that is not on the backup copy and you don't want to loose the recent data, then you can use the "Import" command to add data instead of overwriting data.
Click on File > Import and select the type of database you will be importing. For example, if you desire to import your email messages, click "Messages..."

Select the program your backup files were created from. In our example, we are simply restoring backup files from the same program and would choose "Microsoft Outlook Express 6".

Select the "Import mail from an OE6 store directory" option.

Click "Browse" when asked for a location.

Browse to the location of your backup folder.

Select "All folders" and click "Next >".

When the Import Wizard completes importing your messages, click "Finish".
For more information directly from Microsoft, click here.

Once you intended to set up your computer, it’s sure that sooner or later you will have to deal with operations such as dividing the hard disk into partitions. After that, you should pay more attention to manage all the partitions. In the event that the original data on your hard disk is accidentally erased or overwritten, or becomes inaccessible because of a hard disk malfunction, what you can do? In a word, you would better know how to back up partition between your hard drives.

MS (Microsoft) Backup is a built-in backup program that comes with Windows which can help you to back up your partitions. Windows 95, 98, Me, XP, 2000, 2003 installation CDs all comes with an integral backup program, which many users are ignorant about as it isn’t included in the “typical” Windows installation. Here, we would like to discuss about it.

The Windows backup utility helps you create a copy of the information on your hard disk. In the event that the original data on your hard disk is accidentally erased or overwritten, or becomes inaccessible because of a hard disk malfunction, you can use the copy to restore your lost or damaged data. The Windows backup utility helps you protect data from accidental loss.

To install this backup utility in Windows, please follow these steps:

1. Firstly, you should insert the Windows CD ROM.
2. Click on the icon labeled 'Browse this CD'.
3. Double click on the 'Add On' folder and next on the folder for the program.
4. Double click on msbexp.exe and the program will start to installed.
As an alternative, you may also install in this way: Click Start>Setting>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs>Windows Setup>System Tools>Details>OK>OK.

This backup utility in Windows is equipped with the basic functions needed to run backup of selected files and folders. But the program is lacking important features that are common in other backup applications. Whenever you need to perform more complicated tasks then the supported options are far from being enough and you need assistance from a better program.

The thing that you really need to remember when it comes to copy the partition during backup is that normally it also provides a partitioning tool. By using this you are able to create a similar partition and to copy over all the data. Disk Copy is one of such kind of software which is based on sector copy and can ease sector copy process. Just as software interface indicates, it will show you clearly of the partitions. Please see the picture bellow:

For more information about Disk Copy, please visit http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/.

Backup should be an essential part of your computer experience for computer users. Users have been alarmed to backup their data for there are many stories of people who have lost all the data due to system crashes, malware, natural disaster or viruses. Although there are possibilities to recover your files after a disaster, it will not assure to get your data back and your important data is still at risk. It is far easier and safer to restore your files from backup rather than to attempt to recover data from your crashed computer.
Data back is easy to do and can save you a lot of time as well as ensure the security of the data. When you back up your files, you are storing your files separately from your computer. In this way, even your computer crashes, you still have a way to access to your files where you back up it.
It's not only mission-critical business information that should be backed up. The data on your home PC needs to be backed up as well. There are three methods of backup: traditional backup, image backup, and continuous. No matter what method you're most comfortable with, please keep in mind to back up your important data to avoid important data loss.
Traditional Backup
Traditional backup (also called file-based backup) programs read and write data at the file level, and are the oldest type of backup available. The biggest distinctions between products lie in their ability to back up open files (files being edited by apps, or locked by the operating system), support for professional hardware such as tape drives, and disaster recovery--namely, the ability to boot from a CD and restore the system as well as data. EASEUS Disk Copy is a free backup tool for this method. By creating a bootable CD, it can provide sector-by-sector disk/partition clone regardless of your operating system, file systems and partition scheme. The sector-by-sector method assures you a copy 100% identity to the original.
Backups Based on Imaging
"Imaging" is the copying of the entire contents of a hard-drive partition--the boot sector, operating system, and data--to a single file. The beauty of an image is that creating or restoring one takes only a single step--backup and disaster recovery just don't get any easier. That said, the line between traditional-backup programs and imaging apps is blurring. Some programs have been released to have the ability of backing up individual files and folders in addition to full partitions, and can even perform incremental and differential backups, such as Norton Save & Restore and Acronis True Image.
Continuous Backup
Continuous data protection (CDP), sometimes called real-time backup, tracks files and backs them up whenever they change. Think of it as something like selective RAID mirroring, where only the files and folders you choose are copied. Unfortunately, CDP suffers the same weakness as RAID mirroring does: It might back up corrupted and infected files, as well as pieces of malware. The risk is substantially reduced, however, since nearly all CDP programs let you keep multiple versions of the files you back up, and normally you'll be backing up only data, not the executables that are most prone to attack. All told, CDP may cost you a few CPU cycles here and there, but it's a great way to keep your system backed up at all times. Programs, such as NIT Shadow 3, IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files and StarDock KeepSafe can do a continuous backup.