You should back up your entire computer frequently because your hard drive can fail at any time. Although backing up your entire computer might seem difficult, it is actually easier than backing up all your data files. To back up all your data files, you need to copy multiple folders and files tediously and laboriously, often one folder (or file) at a time. Alternatively, you can run full-system backup software that lets you use a simple procedure to back up your entire computer as a disk image, which is a single, large, binary backup file. The disk image contains your entire operating system, all software applications, all configuration settings, and all data.

Backup Strategies

If your main hard drive fails, do you really wish to reinstall your operating system (including its many updates), reinstall all your software applications, remember and restore all your configuration settings, and copy all your backed-up data files into appropriate folders? If not, you should develop a backup strategy that includes backing up your entire computer regularly (such as weekly), and, as required, backing up your most-recent data files frequently (such as daily). Here are three example backup strategies:

• If you work on multiple customer projects each day, you might wish to make a full-system backup each evening. (You need not back up data files separately because they are part of the disk image.)
• If you work on files for only one customer each day, you might wish to back up that customer’s data files in an appropriate folder each evening, and back up your entire computer once each week.
• If you use your computer for personal projects, such as writing essays for college, and processing and storing photos, you might wish to back up separate data folders each day, and back up your entire computer once each month.

Full-System Backup Hardware

While backing up your entire computer, you should create a disk image only on a separate physical drive. For example, if you have two partitions, such as C:/ and D:/ on one physical drive, and you create a disk image of the C:/ partition in the D:/ partition, you have not really backed up your computer. If the physical drive fails, you lose both your system on the C:/ partition and its backup disk image on the D:/ partition. Therefore, before you can back up your entire computer, you need either a separate internal hard drive, or an external hard drive. The most secure choice is a portable external hard drive. For more information, see Comparing External Hard Drives.

Full-System Backup Software

The software that you need for backing up your entire computer varies according to your operating system:

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux

Windows Full-System Backup Software - If you are using a PC running a Windows operating system, available software for backing up your entire computer includes:

• Acronis True Image Home
• CMS BounceBack
• Symantec Norton Ghost
• TeraByte Image for Windows

Mac Full-System Backup Software - If you are using a Mac, available software for backing up your entire computer includes:

• BounceBack for Mac
• SuperDuper

Linux Full-System Backup Software - If you are using a PC running a Linux operating system, available software for backing up your entire computer includes:

• Mondo Rescue
• Partimage

If your Linux operating system is an Ubuntu distribution you can also use Remastersys to back up your entire computer.

General Full-System Backup Procedure

After you select full-system backup software, follow its exact instructions to back up your entire computer. Here is the general procedure:

1. Make sure your computer is virus-free and malware free. If you have not recently used security software to scan your computer for viruses and spyware, you should do so before you back up your entire computer. (You have no need to back up viruses and/or spyware infections.)
2. Save all your work, and close all applications.
3. If you are backing up your computer to a portable external hard drive (recommended), make sure you have connected it to your computer.
4. Start your full-system backup program, and then follow its prompts to do the following:
   1. Select which the drive to back up. For example, on a PC running Windows, you might select C:/ as the source drive.
   2. Select the drive on which to store the backup disk image. For example, if your portable external hard drive is L:/, select it as the target drive.
   3. Name the disk image backup file that you are creating.
   4. Start the backup process, which requires approximately one minute per GB (GigaByte).
5. After the software finishes backing up your system, close the full-system backup program.
6. If you have backed up your computer to a portable external hard drive, disconnect it, and then store it in a safe place.