PC beginner needs help creating backup

Hi there, As my title says I am a PC beginner. I have windows 98 on a compaq presario that is about 8 yr.s old. I know it is considered to be a dinosaur, but it has been good for me to learn on. The more I've learned & experienced I have come to realize the need for having backups. I have the "microsoft backup" software in my system tools. I am trying to put some programs onto to bootable CD's. When I left click the tools menu in "microsoft backup" & go to media tools it shows "no devices". Where do I begin with this subject of backing up & what should be my main concern. I have the "windows 98" setup files saved in my hard drive in case I ever need to replace it. I have had to do that once before after some files were corrupted. It takes up a lot of space on my hard drive, I would just like to save it on CD's so I can delete it from my hard drive..
What should I do.......

 

Am I in the right forum for this, is this something that majorgeeks can help me with?

 

Hello....Patiently waiting

 

Any suggestions on where I can get help on this subject. Iwas basically just wanting to know what additional software I may need to install. I have gone into the "backup" software on the home page. I'm guessing I need a CD burning program in addition to compliment the media tools in my backup program.

 

" Is there anybody out there "

 

Okay I assume you want a BackUp app, they are present on this link:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?id=3&sort=25

I will also assume that you have a CD burner.

When the page opens hit the Popularity button and it will sort the apps by the most highly rated. I have Nero installed but there were a couple there worth looking at:

http://majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html

(not sure if this will work on 98 and 11Mb)

a lot smaller files:

http://majorgeeks.com/EasyISO_d2499.html

and another:

http://majorgeeks.com/SilentNight_Micro_CDDVDISOAudio_Burner_d4765.html

I have not used any of these to date (and dont intend to install as no need!) but you could experiment with these lower two.

As to what you should backup I am not sure you must really decide what is most important to yourself, it is a bit like saying I'm going to the supermarket what do you think I should buy. Some indepth info on backing up can be found at:

http://www.google.com/custom?q=back...67191;&domains=langa.com&sitesearch=langa.com

Hopefully some others will help you out with more advice.

Finally go upto the top at the forum page and click on FAQ (or any of the headings) and the search option will come up. Click on advanced and type in backup. You will find many similar threads, an example:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=75063&highlight=Backup

Goodluck

 

Thanks for your reply, I think the next step I need to take is to get a drive installed to run the CD burner software. When I launch "CD burner XP" or my "windows backup" programs they both report "No compatible CDR drives found"
I installed the "Easy ISO" backup program after reading your post. I also installed the "Aida 32 sysinfo" & saved the OS & memory reports to a file. I will attatch them to give you an idea of what is going on.....what I don't have & what I will need to successfully install & run a CD burning program. As I mentioned, I have installed "CD burner XP" & I also have " Deepburner". I will delete one of them after I find out which one will work best. My main goal right now is getting some items on CD so I can free up drive space. Take a look at my "aida sysinfo" attatchments & see what you think......Thank you for your help

 

Micro$$oft Backup canNOT backup directly to CD.

It says it can backup to CD, but not directly. You need to create a folder on the CD, and point the program to it otherwise it won't see the disc.

Why don't you check out the dedicated tools in our BackUp Section?

 

BTW, the OS report has your product key.

Maybe PM a mod or wait till they read this and are kind enough to edit it.

 

Okay thankfully someone else has provided some further info for you. I am a very avergae user myself but do a lot of research and are learning quickly.
Here is a link which you may find invaluable, possibly a bit confusing, but
at least it is expert advice:

http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=12803122&pgno=2

Have a look at step 4 and follow his links. The host of this site is called Fred Langa and he provides very solid info on PCs' and can be found at;

www.langa.com

I use the search option on this site and type in my keyword and always find heaps of articles, excellent learning tool in conjunction with a site like this.

For info on Drive Imaging (best form of backup????) which is what that EasyISO app will do that you downloaded:

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-03.htm#2

Importnantly you should clean up your sys before creating a BackUp so you dont copy the junk as well as what you need. Do you have CCleaner yet? If not grab it from here:

http://majorgeeks.com/download4191.html

"Run Ccleaner with the default options to clean out temporary files. Only use the Default Scan on the Windows Tab and select Run Cleaner. Do not run any other options from other tabs" (majorgeeks 2006).
You will be amazed at how much memory this little app will free and very quickly. I love it!

Another great app for maintaining system function is a 3rd party Defrag app, the inbuilt ones are incredibly slow and can deter you from using them as you should (daily), I love this app as well Diskeeper Lite v2.32:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207

Probably more info than you expected to have to wade through but take your time so you do it right.

 

Thank you for your reply eagle.......Yes, I knew that there would be more info to all of this than I assumed. I do have CCleaner & Diskeeper Lite, I use them several times a week. As I stated in my first post, my system is old & has very little memory & drive space to begin with. I hope to upgrade soon, but try to make the most of this one...
Back to a question I have asked already. Is there a certain "driver" I need to install to run a CD Burning program. When I launch any of them they say " No compatible CD/R drives repoted by CD Burner XP".......etc. Or is this happening because I don't know how to use the program.
I am still learning a lot & will admit that I am not much more than a beginner. However I can usually pick up on things fairly quick. I posted a thread in spyware several months ago & Chaslang was able to walk me through the steps to manually remove spyware from my registry after almost 2-weeks of correspondance. I don't see this as being that difficult so I do feel confident that I can do this with just a little bit of guidance. I will go to the links you gave me & read up on them. I think my system is missing some things though.....I have the"AIDAsysinfo" & can provide other info than the OS which I posted in my previous thread.........I am a die hard & force myself to learn what I don't know..........Hang in there with me if you can but remember I am still a newbie

 

Have you tried EasyISO v1.3 and noted whether same message comes up? I am a bit suspicious that CD Burner XP may be OS specific (for XP users only). It seems that you may also need to identify what Brand and Model of CD Burner you have, the current driver installed to operate it and whether there are newer versions of drivers for your burner.

I am sure there are many ways to gather this info. Not sure about "AIDAsysinfo" but can it give you a hardware report or specs on your CD Burner?

If not then download EVEREST HOME (free system diagnostic app) and click on Storage Devices then go the Report Menu and select quick report in .txt format. From this you should be able to attain Make, Model, and current drivers for your CD Burner. Then go to web and check for driver verions and update if needed.

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Hope you read earlier threads about the reports you posted!

 

OK Eagle, I got EVEREST HOME installed & saved the report to a .txt file. It shows that I do have a driver associated with CD-R software. I have deleted the "CD Burner XP" from my system & have installed "EasyISO". When I launch Easy ISO it says to "Drop files (or folders ) from Windows Explorer in this box".... when I try to do that the EasyISO window won't stay up. The only way it allows me to drag a file in it is from the Desktop. Maybe I don't understand the difference between DROP & DRAG. I did get a file in there though by dragging from the Desktop. But I was not able to burn it onto a CD, it says something along the lines of......
>>>Not ready....medium not present
>>>BURNCD finish
>>>WRITE/BURNCD PROCESS DONE WITH ERROR
>>>WRITER ERROR

I will try to check for driver version updates, not real sure how to go about that....Is that a microsoft update site item? Here is the EVEREST .txt file attatched below. I'll keep trying & I will also try to use the "DEEPBURNER" program I have too.

 

Heres the .txt file.....I forgot to upload with last post

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but the EVEREST report shows that you only have a CD Rom drive:

[ LITEON CD-ROM LTN382 ]

Device Properties:
Driver Description (CD-Rom Drive)
Driver Date 4/23/99
Driver Provider Microsoft
INF File MSCDROM.INF

Sadly this implies you have a CD reader only and not a CD-RW (read/write) drive.

The only suggestion I can come with now is for you to consider a Zip/Archive/Compression program or obtain a CD-RW drive and install it. Seeing that you have compaq presario I'm wondering if this is a laptop? If so a good source for dismantling laptops can be found at the thread:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=83455

Even if not the same brand the links in post 1 can be used generically to disassemble a laptop as the host of the webpage states, just be careful and watch what your doing. I will be using it tommorow to clean out the dust and crud from our laptop Sharp PIIIE 800Mhz, 311Mb (SDRAM), Matshita UJDA310 (4x/ 4x/ 20x CD-RW).

Hope this helps some.

 

If it's a desktop, consider buying an internal CD or DVD burner.

They are very cheap these days, and simple to install.

 

Have just completed my laptop crud removal and it was relatively easy for a first timer, but this sys had the heatsink and cpu fan estab in the base (unlike many in the link provided earlier) thus I only disassembled the base and used the vac (very carefully). The CD-R/W was only held in with two screws and slid out very easily, no confusing wires just a pin and socket connection. So if it is a laptop and you do decide to upgrade the drive it should not be challenging. I certainly wouldn't pay an extra $50 to have a tech do it.

Another option to consider is can you establish a network with another computer that has a CD or DVD-RW (LAN) and then you can transfer data to the other sys and burn it that way.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Eagle & Insomniac for your continued support.
No! it is not a laptop....It is a desktop (stationary unit) with a sony monitor. OK I was not surprised to hear the bad news about it being a read only CD driver. So how do I go about finding this internal CD burner that was mentioned by "Insomniac" in thread 16. Is it something that can be bought online? .....what info will I need to find the right one?....what is a reliable
source(online)?.....etc....I think you understand what I'm asking!
Which way from here in other words... Thanks Again
P.S.....I will upgrade soon, but I don't mind investing a little in this one
for I plan to keep it as a backup PC even when I upgrade.

 

Your two best value choices are to either get a CD burner, or a DVD burner.


You can buy a CD burner that will also play DVD's (it won't burn DVD's though) for about US$40-$50 roughly.

A DVD burner, which will burn CD's as well as DVD's, will cost about double that.

It's up to you which you go for. A CD will store about 650-700 MB roughly, while a DVD 8.5GB (8 500MB) roughly.

For CD burner, I would suggest a Liteon, for DVD burner, either Pioneer or LG.


I don't know which country you are in so can't recommend a supplier, but most people in North America use newegg.

 

I am not sure of the first step is their the potential for compatability issues insomniac? or will any drive suffice. If so I saw a CD-RW today for AU$25 at the Disc Shop in Australia. I think insomniac is right if you have a bit of cash try and get a DVD-RW and if you get a new system you can trasfer it from one to the other.

Adding the second drive should be relatively easy.

 

I think that whatever I install in the system I would more than likely just leave it in there rather than transfering to a new system. With that said, at this point I probably just need the CD-RW for this system since it has very little resources anyway. I will save the DVD-RW for a new system that is up to date. OK now I am in North America & I have heard of newegg before. This takes me back to my questions in my last post......will EVEREST provide all the info I need to pick the right one? & what OS info will I need?.....I'm guessing that I just need to go to <www.newegg.com>.........Thanks again

 

You don't really need Everest or operating system information for this.

A LiteOn combo drive would be ideal.

It will play CD's and DVD's, as well as burn CDR's.

HERE is the Newegg link, just choose the colour and whether you want OEM or not.

OEM means you don't get any manuals or paperwork etc, but it's cheaper.

 

If you don't want to order online, it is very likely that your local WalMart also has these items in stock. I bought a LiteOn 16X DVD burner for $75.00 last week, it came with burning software, and also burns CD's.

 

Thanks for everyones help, I think I have enough info now to approach this from several different angles. I will get started on this project as soon as possible & I will have this thread to refer back to for any remaining questions.
Tank you all .......rayzur