Six Things You’re Yet To Back Up and How To Back Them Up
You’ve backed up all files in your harddisk, thanks to Mozy, DropBox, SugarSync, or Carbonite. But there are some things that you’re yet to backup. What are they, you ask? Let’s check them out one by one:
#1: Your Blog
You started a blog some time ago and now it’s grown into a big community of sorts. Your life without your blog would be a nightmare. It’s always good to have a backup of your blog so that in the worst case scenario, you can safely restore the contents of the blog and start writing again as if nothing happened!
If you’re on WordPress, WP DB Backup is the only plugin you’ll ever need to do a regular backup of your blog. You can install the plugin and tell it to send automatic backups of your blog to your email inbox. Install. Configure. Forget. Just as easy as that. Pro Blog Design has a complete guide on how you can go about doing it.
If you’re blogging using other platforms, check out this post that lists some good apps that can backup your blog.
#2: Your Gmail
Most of you reading this should be using Gmail. And I’m sure with the amount of storage that Gmail provides, you’ll never feel like deleting emails. So what if Google locks you up one day and that is the day when you desperately need to have a look at an email you sent?
You wouldn’t worry much if you had used Gmail Backup. The program works on Windows, Mac and Linux and it’s not just limited to backing up Gmail messages, but can also restore them to another account. You gotta have POP/IMAP enabled for your account for this to work.
This tool is being continuously developed as you can see on their site, and there are niggles that are being ironed out periodically. You need to give your Gmail ID and password and so use it at your own risk.
#3: Your Mobile Phone
Perhaps the most indispensable gadget is your mobile phone. With hundreds of contacts, heaps of text messages, and more importantly, your calendar, you should have gotten it all backed up.
No hassles if you’ve got a Nokia mobile phone because the Nokia PC Suite makes the backup process a piece of cake – a step-by-step guide is here is for your reference.
If you want to put it up in the cloud, you can use either Mobical or Zyb. While both of these tools can allow you to backup contacts and other data and even modify them, Zyb adds a social layer to the entire thing by showing updates from your contacts on social networks.
#4: Your PC Drivers
As I mentioned in my Windows Freeware Utilities post, it’s absolutely essential that you have a backup of all hardware drivers on your PC. It’d be a nightmare not to have them backed up, because if you’ve reinstalled Windows, you absolutely need to have a driver backup that has to be restored to keep all your hardware working properly.
DriverMax comes handy here, because it can scour your hard disk for all driver files and save them all together in a folder or as a compressed .zip file for later retrieval. It can also update your drivers automatically.
Another tool worth trying is DriverScanner from Uniblue. Although its main purpose is to scan and update outdated drivers, it does give you options to back them up. It has won several accolades as well. The catch: You’ll have to pay to use it.
#5. Your Windows OS Settings
Despite the shiny new hardware and the blazing speed of your new PC, it still seems alien to you because you’re missing the customization that you did your old PC.
The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is buried under the Accessories > System Tools in your Windows Start Menu can be used to backup and transfer settings like IE Options, Display, Sound Properties and many other settings.
The Wizard can also be used to back up fonts and file type associations.
#6. Your Bookmarks
As you frequently scour and research using the internet, you tend to accumulate bookmarks in your browser. But when you’re on a cyber cafe you can’t get your bookmarks right?
That’s when Xmarks (formerly, Foxmarks) comes in handy. It’s a must have if you frequently work with multiple computers. All you need to do is install the Foxmarks addon for Firefox/IE/Safari and create an account there.
Your bookmarks are immediately backed up and can be restored later. It’s primarily a sync tool so it does let you sync your bookmarks with multiple PCs. They can even be accessed via your mobile.
Related posts:
- How to Backup and Restore Contacts, Files and Other Settings from your Nokia Mobile Phone?
- How to transfer settings and files from one computer to another with Magic Transfer
- Read and extract data from .NBU Nokia Backup Files
- Gmail Keeper Makes Backups Of Your Gmail Messages
- Sync Bookmarks Between Multiple Browsers with Transmute
ZYB is awesome! been using it since 2006 and with over 1000 phonebook entries or so, let me tell u that ZYB is heaven sent! The backup takes place in seconds and works even when you have multiple phones/numbers
Narayanan Hariharan
31 Mar 09 at 3:08 pm
Get a Mac and a time capsule
Much easier
Zaheer Ellias Najeeb
31 Mar 09 at 5:27 pm
Backing up drivers with drivermax is awesome. No need to scour my room for the driver cds anymore, when reinstalling the os and that makes life easier.
Arun shivaram
31 Mar 09 at 5:47 pm
why backup gmail using any 3rd party? offline gmail will download all the emails & attachments.
Joseph Jude
31 Mar 09 at 6:14 pm
@Narayanan: Thanks for dropping by to comment.
@Zaheer: I don’t have a Mac
@Arun: I concur. It’s helluva app.
@Joseph: This backup that you create using Gmail Backup can be restored to apps like Outlook, etc. easily. That’s a purpose.
Shankar Ganesh
31 Mar 09 at 6:17 pm
Personally – I use MailStore Home for email backups, including Gmail. It’s able to directly backup the gmail acccount via IMAP as well as consolidate my other accounts from Thunderbird into one single backup.
http://www.mailstore.com/en/mailstore-home.aspx
The home version is free and it’s been working great for me so far.
T
31 Mar 09 at 7:42 pm
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9866
If you use it, you should also back up your Bookmark Toolbar!
samfind
31 Mar 09 at 8:23 pm
This is brilliant! You’ve just eliminated a big chunk of post-disaster support calls. Great work!
Storagepipe
31 Mar 09 at 9:54 pm
This is a very interesting blog post. I especially like the one about backing up cell phone info. Good work.
Sumo Backup
31 Mar 09 at 9:56 pm
IMHO The most important backup:
Photo+video log of your entire home. All rooms, all expensive devices, furniture, documents, jewelery. Catalog the pictures using a simple database and add market values to each item. Whenever you buy something expensive, take a picture and add it to the database along with value.
It always comes in handy to have proof for insurance claims in the event of theft or disaster.
Swaroop
1 Apr 09 at 12:40 am
You should write in details ….like for nokia you gave tip and a link , but for other manufacturers you should give. e.g .For sony ericsson use default software or use utility like my phone explorer
kpsofts
1 Apr 09 at 1:07 am
You can also enable offline access for gmail using google gears and you get a local copy of all your email.
Adam
1 Apr 09 at 5:00 am
[...] What to Backup? (tags: backup tips computers utilities tools windows diy) [...]
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1 Apr 09 at 7:32 am
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4 Apr 09 at 2:31 am
Why does Avast antivirus tell me that DriverMax is trying to install a Virus when I try to register it.
Anyone else has had the same problem?
Joe S.
4 Apr 09 at 4:55 am
Great info!!… Question… What about backing up licensed products??
Donnat T
4 Apr 09 at 5:23 pm
[...] Tech Tips offers suggestions on how to improve the comprehensiveness of your backup by showing you six things you probably never thought about backing up before — and how to get the job done [...]
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5 Apr 09 at 3:47 am
Why not save all your favourites/bookmarks on delicious.com then you can always access them and share them with others too (or not if you prefer!)
bob
6 Apr 09 at 12:48 am
[...] What to Backup? Posted in April 17th, 2009 by admin in Computer Help, Computers Six Things You’re Yet To Back Up and How To Back Them Up [...]
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17 Apr 09 at 7:44 pm
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Gmail Keeper Makes Backups Of Your Gmail Messages
12 May 09 at 9:59 pm
@Zaheer that is a retarded comment…
I have both and I have had hard drives fail on both a mac doesn’t solve your data loss!
Tom
8 Jul 09 at 9:02 am
“Six Things You’ve Yet To Back Up and How To Back Them Up”
FTFY
Dave
10 Aug 09 at 2:42 pm