# backing up my computer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782 "2005-03-29T16:20:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/1 "2005-03-29T16:20:59Z")
I regularly back up my data files, but if my computer went down there would be a mess of programes/updates/drivers/passwords etc to install as well. Is there a way to make mirror of my computer on a disk so that if my HD failed, everything could be transferred/reinstalled in one easy shot without having to reinstall everything separately? This is probably a trivial question so I apologise in advance ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/2 "2005-03-29T16:35:06Z")
Short answer – yes… Longer answer – yes, but how do you want to do it? You can do so to a recordable DVD, or multiple DVD’s. You need a recordable DVD drive and software that will do so. You could use an external hard disk. There are many drives, or varying sizes. There is also software to backup your entire disk to the external one You could also run a RAID 1 setup – this requires two hard drives of exactly the same size. One hard drive is kept as a mirror image of the other. If one drive fails, the system continues to run on the other, and asks you to replace the failed one. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/3 "2005-03-29T17:08:05Z")
Can’t this be done by using a program such as Norton Ghost? I’m not sure about it saving passwords but it does allow you to make an image of all your programs and transfer it to another machine. This saves having to reinstall the OS and then reinstall all the secondary programs separately. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/4 "2005-03-29T17:13:48Z")
Ghosting a drive to another machine will only work if the two are identical. Otherwise, all the drivers etc are going to be completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/5 "2005-03-29T17:24:04Z")
Can he ghost it to another hard drive for the same machine? I mean, if his hard drive died and he had a ghost image already prepared and then bought a new identical HD to put into the same box, would that work? Would the HD have to be exactly identical? Same manufacturer, same model number as the previous? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/6 "2005-03-29T17:36:54Z")
No, the hard drive does not need to be identical. In fact, I’ve used Norton Ghost to move to a larger hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![jsmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@jsmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsmith)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/7 "2005-03-29T18:26:13Z")
Do you have windows? You can use the the windows backup utility found under accessories -\> system tools -\> backup. One of the options is to backup your entire harddrive and create a recovery disk. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/8 "2005-03-29T19:40:18Z")
When I asked a similar question some months ago, **Xash** steered me to a piece of software called Acronis True Image. Now I’ve got a backup of the whole shootin’ match-files, programs, favorites, OS, etc. on a separate HDD that I connect via USB. Incremental backups take only a few minutes every month. They even have a downloadable trial version from their website, but I bought the software from J & R Music World for about $40, IIRC so I’d have the program CD. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/9 "2005-03-30T14:54:58Z")
thanks - I now have the trial version of true image that I will try ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-my-computer/296782/10 "2005-03-30T18:16:58Z")
Retrospect. It comes in industrial-strength versions that back up entire networks to tape or DVD but it also comes in an Express version that lets you back up your own hard disks to local backup media. Buy yourself a hard disk big enough to handle your current disk(s)/partition(s), and partition it to make volumes for each of your drives/partitions (C, D, etc.) and use the Duplicate function. Result = a completely bootable mirror of your bootup volume plus mirrors of any other volumes you use. Good Alternative: Raid level 1. Everything that’s on your drive is also written simultaneously to a second drive.