Business users, Home users, Casual Surfers… We can all be impacted by a system outage, failure, 
or viral infestation.
Recently I took a look at my current strategy for recovery of my primary work station.
I do quite a bit of work as a subcontractor for a BIG IT Consulting firm. The data that I produce is used in their support efforts.
I need to manage and protect this data as well as be prepared to supply files as needed to this firm.
My Data Is Critical To My Business
YOUR data – Business or Home use – Both co$t money to protect and maintain. So – what have you changed that might put some of your co$tly data at risk?
First Steps – Check Your Backups
That’s right – begin with the easy stuff! Review your backup settings and compare these settings, the directories and files selected, to the list of valuable information or tools that you store on your hard drive.
We all are purchasing and downloading software and information products these days. These are typically small investments, but some online/downloaded purchases CAN be significant.
If you lose the master installation files for applications you will be *sunk* when you need to reinstall the application to your new computer… I have seen this before, and it can get co$tly quickly!
Be Sure you know where your electronic valuables are, and be sure your investments are protected with the backup process you are using.
Second Step – Get An Image Of Your Hard Drive
Imaging is *Da-BomB* – It’s gets everything on your hard drive. This allows for Rapid Return To Service should the system be damaged, virus infested, or an important part fails.
Vista and Windows XP users should consider running the Microsoft System Readiness Tool for Windows 7. If your system passes the Readiness assessment, then you need to find the Windows 7 drivers for your system.
Should you be unable to find the drivers for your computer on the manufacturer’s website, then you need to consider purchasing a new system… it’s the best way to avoid unnecessary aggravation!
Windows will not only give you the Rapid Return To Service you seek, but it is waaay more secure than Windows XP and much faster and smoother than Vista is.
Vista and Windows XP users can go ahead and invest in cloning software from one of the major suppliers – Symantec Ghost, Macrium Reflect, Acronis True Image, or others. Be sure you check the capabilities of the software before you buy.
Better yet, take a look at the cost of a new Windows 7 based system and subtract the cost of the imaging software and see if the price is better! That way you get a faster system with more ram and storage than you might have, AND the improvements in Windows 7 all in one!
Upgrade Storage So Your Backups Have Room To Grow
I love external hard drive docking stations! Two of them are in my office, and they work great!
Amazon has em – Thermaltake BlacX eSATA USB Docking Station
Hard Drive Docking Station Ready For Work!
This particular unit uses SATA drives -the MOST common hard drive interface today. These are worth much more than they cost.
Hard Drive Docking stations allow you to [Hard Drive Docking Station At Work!] add storage as you need it!
When your backup outgrows your hard drive, you can simply upgrade the barebone hard drive – no need to invest in an external case and power supply… just swap the hard drives out of the Hard Drive Dock, and insert the new hard drive.
When you have old SATA drives you can reuse them as well. Where would we get old SATA drives? Well, quite possibly from our old computer system(s).
Special Note – IDE interface Hard Drive Docking stations are not as useful. IDE Interface drives require that the computer is off before you can change out the drive.
SATA drives can be ejected from the Drive Manager console, then the dock station is powered off, and once the drive stops spinning you can eject the drive and insert it’s replacement!
Very Cool, Very Flexible, Very Portable, and Very Economical!
Using Scripts / Batch Files / Utilities to backup
The environment at Seeber Computer Services is rather complex.
I have a Windows Home Server that performs images of up to 10 systems, my primary workstation, a spare workstation, and an notebook or two!
Scripting, Batch Files, and other Utilities (RichCopy or RoboCopy) can be formed together to allow scheduled data copy operations.
Here is an example of a very simple script that could be used:
RichCopy “C:\Data\Files\2009″ “I:\TestCopy” /TS 10 /TD 10 /TP 15 /FC 100 /PP 3 /R 1 /RI 1
This script uses Microsoft’s RichCopy utility to copy files from the ‘C:\Data\Files\2009′ directory to the ‘I:\TestCopy’ directory. It will copy all the files from the C: directory to the I: drive directory. The extra numbers and letters are ‘command switches’ that fill in the RichCopy programs parameters for optimized operation!
The good news – RichCopy is a smart program and will NOT copy files that are unchanged since the last copy job was run – so if not much information has changed, the backups go very FAST!
In Summary
Everyone should take the time to make sure their backups are effective – and by effective I mean:
The backup gets the important files
The backup is *TESTED* periodically to be sure files will restore
The Images are tested periodically
Usually it is easy to get people to do the first 2 items, but people are reluctant to do the 3rd step – restoring the image.
Once in a while even images must be tested – the good news is that the system will be faster when the image is restored. All of the files are restored in a fashion that allows them to be accessed faster!
Remember, when you have a good back in your hands, you have nothing to fear! 
If you need more information or help with YOUR new 2012 System Recovery plan, please feel free to give me a call!
Till We Talk Again,
Be SAFE Out There!
Patrick Seeber . President of Seeber Consulting .
