Windows provides the following backup tools:

• File backup: Windows Backup allows you to make copies of data files. You can let Windows choose what to back up or you can select the individual folders, libraries, and drives that you want to back up. By default, your backups are created on a regular schedule. You can change the schedule and you can manually create a backup at any time. Once you set up Windows Backup, Windows keeps track of the files and folders that are new or modified and adds them to your backup. To set up file backup, see the following backup steps

• System image backup: Windows Backup provides you with the ability to create a system image, which is an exact image of a drive. A system image includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it is a complete restoration; you can’t choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced. Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using Windows Backup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up scheduled file backup, you can choose whether you want to include a system image. This system image only includes the drives required for Windows to run. You can manually create a system image if you want to include additional data drives. See an automated system image backup example

• Previous versions: Previous versions are copies of files and folders that Windows automatically saves as part of system protection. You can use previous versions to restore files or folders that you accidentally modified or deleted, or that were damaged. Depending on the type of file or folder, you can open, save to a different location, or restore a previous version. Previous versions can be helpful, but should not be considered a backup because the files get replaced by new versions and will not be available if the drive were to fail. For more information, see Shadow Copies

Last 3 posts by George

• Example of a data backup policy and procedure - March 1st, 2010
• Remote backup management consoles - February 15th, 2010
• Low cost Data Protection concepts for Virtualized environments - February 7th, 2010

A good backup policy starts with a clear objective such as, – The Company’s Data Backup is the responsibility of the relevant user, department manager or asset owner, who must define which data/information are to be backed up, the Recovery Point Objective (RTO) and the Retention Time (RT). The RPOs and RTs must be updated on regular basis. All backed-up data/information should be stored both locally and off-site on backup media such as, tapes and must be encrypted using adequate encryption methods.

The best way to turn any policy into practice is by defining every single step required to achieve the statement goals. The main entities mentioned in the above statement are data requirements (RTO and RT elements), data owners and users, off-site storage and security. Such statement does not define specific technical details such as, data integrity checks and jobs schedules, however, it is important to include these steps without details in your procedure. Another procedure or document would be needed to show such details. Remember, that policy statements are initiated by a member of senior management and need to be implemented by lower levels in the hierarchy of the organization. Furthermore, such procedure in the form of a flow-chart should be understandable by senior management, otherwise they would be reluctant to approve.

The procedure is divided into three main parts: the data requirements build-up, the backup strategy and checks, and the off-site backup process.

Data owners request their data to be backed up whenever they deem necessary while a backup operator (IT Technician) checks with data owners the validity of the their requirements on regular basis,  depending on the business environment. The IT’s backup operator defines the backup strategy such as, job schedules and destination media for local backups and recoveries. Each and every backup job is checked for errors upon completion and the respective owner informed about the missed job. Each failed job should be recorded for auditing and problem escalation purposes. If the off-site backup media is tapes, then it is extremely important to restore some files from the previous tapes on regular basis and the same applies if the off-site media is a remote storage location such as, cloud or on-line backups providers. The backup strategy and off-site schedules vary with data criticality and with the business requirements and hence, intervals shown in the flow-chart are typical examples.

Last 3 posts by George

• Microsoft Windows 7 backup tools - March 7th, 2010
• Remote backup management consoles - February 15th, 2010
• Low cost Data Protection concepts for Virtualized environments - February 7th, 2010

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In my entry titled “How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7)” I described how to backup the Microsoft Outlook 2007 data file together with that part of the Windows registry that stores within it the email accounts from where Outlook retrieves emails or via which emails are sent out. Today I discuss how to use that backed up information to either recover a failed computer or to transfer the settings from one computer to another. The former may happen if the hard disk fails or as a result of a malware attack while the latter would apply if you are upgrading your computer or operating system.

1. Restore the files you had previously backed up to their original location. If you followed my previous article, the location would be %USERPROFILE%\Documents if you’re using Windows 7 and %USERPROFILE%\My Documents for Windows XP.

If you were using an online backup solution, you could have had a process that backed up this directory multiple times a day thereby guaranteeing that not even one email was lost when disaster struck.

2. Delete the files created by Microsoft Outlook when you first ran it. As we did when backing up, we need to find out the default location where Microsoft Outlook places the pst database. The same steps you performed during the backup stage must be repeated:

1. With Outlook running, right click on the Personal Folders entry (1) and choose the option Properties for ‘Personal Folders’ from the short cut menu that comes up.
2. A dialog box titled Outlook Today – (Personal Folders) Properties comes up. Click on the Advanced… button (2).
3. This brings up yet another dialog box titled Personal Folders. The Filename: entry (3) depicts the location of where your Outlook data file currently resides.
4. Copy the directory location from the Filename: entry and paste it into Windows Explorer.
5. Click OK on all the dialog boxes you have just opened and shut down Outlook.
6. Delete the contents of this folder.

 3. Click on the Microsoft Outlook 2007 icon to run the program. Since the pst data file is no longer there, Outlook prompts you that it cannot find this file and asks that you select the location where this file can be found. Move to the directory you have just restored and select the appropriate database. Outlook will memorize the new location.

A  message box comes up to tell you that Outlook must be restarted. Press the OK button.

4. Run Outlook again and confirm that all your emails, contacts and calendar entries are present. Although everything should be there, the email account settings are missing. This is because these are not stored within the pst file but are held in the registry.

If you did not follow the article about how to backup this information, you will have to manually setup each email account. Search your mail provider’s website for information about how to go about it. If, on the other hand, you retained a backup of this chunk of the registry then read on.

 5. Close Microsoft Outlook.

 6. Restore the Registry entries by double clicking on the registry file found in the directory you restored earlier. You will be asked to confirm the operation (1). You need to choose the Yes button. A warning comes up (2) to tell you that mucking up with the registry is dangerous. This is because one can easily render a computer an electronic vegetable if one deletes, adds or modifies incorrect entries to the registry—check out the backup part of this work for more about the Windows registry. Press the Yes button for this dialog box. A third dialog box (3) will tell you that the entries have been successfully added.

7. The next time you run Outlook you will get a prompt for the password associated with each email account managed by this program. Type in the password. If you do not wish to have to enter the password every time you run Outlook, click the appropriate checkbox to save the password.

8. Confirm that everything is working as it did before.

End of part 2 – Conclusion

You do not appreciate something until that something is no longer there. Emails, contacts and appointments are three of the most important things in the electronic world we live in. A backup solution that is easy to setup and forget about while being equally easy to restore when the need arises is the ideal candidate to ensure that you do not ever lose one bit of data.

Your comments and opinions are welcome. Is there a program you would like to backup but do not know how to go about it? Did I miss something out in my article on how to backup and restore of Microsoft Outlook 2007? Leave a comment or email me on chribonn@gmail.com.

Last 3 posts by Alan C

• How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety - January 27th, 2010
• Wish You and Your Dearest a No Data Loss Year - December 31st, 2009
• Are online backups for your computer a safe idea? - December 23rd, 2009

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Nevertheless, SMBs and households should not forget to backup their data locally first and then use a remote storage location as a second means of protection - my advice is:

1. To perform regular Data backups locally, on some reliable and inexpensive media but most importantly is to use a different storage media other than the local drive.
2. Then move/archive this data off-site – again using a reliable, secure and economical solution

I have come across a couple of online backup providers that lack comprehensive management tools. When I say comprehensive I mean ample features that allow end users to monitor the backup/restore process and check for errors, costs and edit account details.

Such as, a user-friendly Web-based GUI (graphical user interface) that provides the following information:

1. That shows and logs the successful completion of backup and restore jobs
2. For failed jobs one should be able to view a brief but complete explanation of what went wrong in plain English and not a series of error codes
3. That shows the storage space consumed and the remaining space if the account is limited by space quota. Graphical statistics would give a good overview such as, usage per day, month, etc
4. Timestamps for the backed up data that will help the end user identify the right data in case a data recovery is needed
5. A section (tab) with all the billing and payment details without disclosing any critical information
6. A personal account section where one can change passwords, email address, quota settings if any and other account related settings.

Last 3 posts by George

• Microsoft Windows 7 backup tools - March 7th, 2010
• Example of a data backup policy and procedure - March 1st, 2010
• Low cost Data Protection concepts for Virtualized environments - February 7th, 2010

Basic setup  

Virtual machines (VMs) are copied (cloned) to a remote computer (storage location) through the export functionality of the virtual server over a Gbit network connection. This can be performed overnight on a weekly or daily basis (depending on the function of your data). VMs can either be left in their exported format or successively imported locally to the computer as to verify their integrity. Additionally, the remote computer can be mounted as a local storage to the virtual server using the inbuilt NFS or iSCSI functionality. All you need is a good reference of the scripting commands available for your environment and the virtual server admin client application. The main cost of this setup is a computer with adequate storage space; say, two or three 1 TB SATA hard drives in a RAID configuration.

Advanced setup

This setup can perform the same tasks as the basic one plus more! Exported VMs to the central location can be successively imported to a second virtual server. This requires that the second server has sufficient free space to host the imported VMs (clones). In the event of a failure on server 1, the recovery time of any exported-imported VM is minimal as you only need to start the imported clone on server 2. The only additional task required would be, the restore operation of any data (at file level) that has changed since the last clone was done. For file data backups one would use the native backup utilities found in the major Operating Systems such as, NT backup for MS windows and Tar for Linux, running with scheduled jobs. Also, a faster alternate solution would be to connect both virtual servers as repositories of each other through NFS or iSCSI.

The suggested setups have some limitations and these are:

• Backups are done at an image level (clones) and not at file or folder level but this can be overcome through the free reliable solutions incorporated in the main operating systems.
• You need to shutdown the VM during an export procedure and hence, the backup process should happen after office hours but this would not be an option if the resource is required to be running 24/7. One would need to explore the snapshot functionality to overcome this setback.

Conclusion: – With what I call a high spec PC and a fast local network (Gbit NICs & switches – quite standard nowadays), the suggestions presented above can offer SMBs a backup and recovery solution without spending thousands of dollars. The same concept can applied between remote sites over a good Internet connection to provide a disaster recovery site. In the articles to come, I will be explaining some basic scripts that perform similar tasks in a typical virtual server environment.

Last 3 posts by George

• Microsoft Windows 7 backup tools - March 7th, 2010
• Example of a data backup policy and procedure - March 1st, 2010
• Remote backup management consoles - February 15th, 2010

Backing up the data file

The folk who decided on the default location of the Outlook data file chose a location that is difficult to figure out.  Also when installing Outlook (or when running it for the first time) there is no way to specify a different folder.

Changing the default location

The first thing I am going to demonstrate in this tutorial is how to move your existing Outlook files to a more humane location under the Windows 7 Documents (or Windows XP My Documents) folders.

Open Outlook which I am assuming you are already running.

1. Right click on the Personal Folders entry (1) and choose the option Properties for ‘Personal Folders’ from the short cut menu that comes up. If your folder has a different name, Personal Folders will be called differently.
2. A dialog box titled Outlook Today – (Personal Folders) Properties comes up. Click on the Advanced… button (2).
3. This brings up yet another dialog box titled Personal Folders. The Filename: entry (3) depicts the location of where your Outlook data file currently resides.
4. Copy the directory location from the Filename: entry and paste it into a Windows Explorer window.
5. Click OK on all the dialog boxes you have just opened and shut down Outlook.
6. Move the folder that contains the Outlook files to a more appropriate location. I would suggest under %USERPROFILE%\Documents if you’re using Windows 7 and %USERPROFILE%\My Documents if you’re still happily using Windows XP.

Click on the Microsoft Outlook 2007 icon to run the program. Since you have moved the original location of the data file, you will get a message box telling you that Outlook can no longer find the pst file in its original location (1).

Clicking OK on the dialog box brings up a file selection screen that allows you to specify the new location where you had shifted your Outlook data files. Move to the new location, click on the pst file and hit the Open Button (2).

Another message box comes up to tell you that Outlook must be restarted. OK that.

The second time onwards Microsoft Outlook 2007 will automatically find your files no questions asked. And the directory where all your important emails reside is now in an easy to find location in your Documents folder together with all your other important stuff.

Backing up the registry

Microsoft Outlook retains your email account settings within the registry. This means that when the time comes to reinstall your computer, unless you have saved your registry Outlook settings you will have to re-enter all the email accounts you process using Outlook 2007. If you happen to have a single Gmail account this might not be that much of a problem (provided you still remember how to do it) but if, like me, you have almost a dozen email accounts flowing into your Outlook remembering each mailbox’s parameters can be time consuming.

A word of warning about handling the registry: unlike many programs, the registry program does not have an undo or an undelete option and changes go into effect immediately. If you delete a file by mistake you can pull it out of limbo by visiting the Recycle Bin. If you screw up a document, pressing undo will take you back one action at a time until you reach the stage before the oops or, if necessary, you can abandon all changes done during that session simply by not saving the updated document. None of this exists in the registry so be cautious.

In Windows 7, type regedit in the Search Programs and Files to run the registry program. With Windows XP, type the same command in the Run… box. Both options can be accessed from the Start Menu. Windows 7 will bring up a dialog box asking you to confirm your action. You should say yes in order to run the program.

Navigate to the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles (1). Each profile you have defined will appear under this key. In my case there is one profile called Outlook.

Right click on Outlook and choose the option Export from the menu that comes up. I suggest that you place the registry snippet you are saving in the same location as the Outlook data files. This ensures that all your Microsoft Outlook related data is in one easy-to-backup folder.

End of part 1 – Conclusion

By backing up the folder to an online backup service you can rest assured that whenever something happens to your computer all your emails and the mailbox settings can be retrieved with ease. If you add a new email account or remove one you no longer use, you should export the registry settings again.

When backing up your Outlook data files, Outlook should be shut down.

Although I have not mentioned Windows Vista, the procedure for Windows 7 is almost identical to that of Windows Vista.

Next time I will describe how to use the information you have saved to restore your Microsoft Outlook 2007 in case of corruption. I’ll also throw in how you can use this backed up data when upgrading your computer from Windows XP to Windows 7.

We all appreciate how important emails are to us. Back them up regularly.

Last 3 posts by Alan C

• How to restore your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7) - February 21st, 2010
• Wish You and Your Dearest a No Data Loss Year - December 31st, 2009
• Are online backups for your computer a safe idea? - December 23rd, 2009

Online backups offer cheaper costs per GB for the same functionality because you only pay for what you use. The costs include the storage used, bandwidth consumed and other related services. Data security is based on the latest encryption algorithms and adequate auditing features would place the end-user’s mind at rest!

A typical SMB that generates a full backup of say, 600GB of data would need an initial expense consisting of an entry level LTO-3 storage drive and an entry level server plus a couple of LTO-3 tape cartridges. Such setup would permit the full backup to be completed in about three hours and the need of one IT staff to be present to swop the tapes if compressing the data is not good enough to fit all data on one tape.

The Initial capital or better the total purchase cost for a similar tape solution would be about $3600. Therefore, the initial cost per GB would be of $6 per GB. If we assume that the above mentioned setup would run for a period of three whole years without entering into additional expenses such as, maintenance and repair costs (which is highly unlikely), then the cost per GB would be much lower. However, one would need to include the IT staff, space requirements and electricity expenses into the costs equation.

On the other hand, an online backup solution requires a good and stable internet connection, especially with regards to upload speeds. Various service providers provide services to move the initial large volumes of data through other means and hence, at cheaper rates. However, if an SMB had to implement this solution, it would cost him/her about $360 to transfer the initial 600GB of data which would yield a cost of 0.60c per GB. As already noted, an adequate internet connection is a must since an internet connection with an upload speed of 2Mbps would take a month to upload a full data backup of about 600GB. This may not be practical; however, alternate arrangements can be made with the provider to shift the initial data!

Conclusion: – An online backup solution has a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) when compared to an internal solution.

Last 3 posts by George

• Microsoft Windows 7 backup tools - March 7th, 2010
• Example of a data backup policy and procedure - March 1st, 2010
• Remote backup management consoles - February 15th, 2010

External hard drives: An external hard drive can easily be attached to your computer using a USB port. External hard drives can be stored in a location that’s separate from your computer, which can help protect your backup. You need to connect it with your computer every time a data backup is done and is usually slower than internal hard drives.

Writeable CDs or DVDs: CDs and DVDs are relatively inexpensive and are easy to find in stores. Practically, all recent computers have CD/DVD burners installed. You can store the CDs or DVDs in a location that’s separate from your computer. Depending on how much data you have, it might take several CDs or DVDs to hold your backup while CDs or DVDs can become corrupted over time.

USB flash drives: USB flash drives are relatively inexpensive and can hold a fair amount of data. You can store a flash drive in a location that’s separate from your computer. It could fill up quickly as typical sizes are still small.

Network locations: If you have two or more computers connected together, a shared folder or drive on one computer can be a convenient place to save your backup. Ideally, the network share is protected with a username and a password while backup time depend on the network devices’ transfer speeds.

For the most flexibility, my recommendation is to save your backup to an external hard drive

Last 3 posts by George

• Microsoft Windows 7 backup tools - March 7th, 2010
• Example of a data backup policy and procedure - March 1st, 2010
• Remote backup management consoles - February 15th, 2010

Health, good fortune and prosperity are the common form of wishes we bestow upon one another. And since I do not want to break with tradition I would like to bestow them onto you. Yet with all of these there is little we can do to determine the outcome. What destiny has in stock for each and every one of us will be revealed at the appropriate time. Some of the wishes can be even considered to be dangerous. For example I would never suggest to a friend to take on gambling so as to increase her prospects of getting some good fortune.

Yet I can safely wish you a year without any loss of data. The simple trick is to backup your data regularly, ideally in a manner that is automated and does not necessitate you having to remember to do it. If the process is automated there is a great chance that you will succeed in not losing any critical information if your computer takes all the data with it when it dies out.

Last 3 posts by Alan C

• How to restore your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7) - February 21st, 2010
• How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety - January 27th, 2010
• Are online backups for your computer a safe idea? - December 23rd, 2009

I have, over the past year and a bit discussed this topic with my students. My students are normal people taking an office productivity computer course. Their computer is shared by at least one other member of the family. They come from all walks of life and a considerable portion of them have been the victim of some sort of data loss. The loss may have been as a result of a virus, an incompetent relative trying to tinker something on the computer or a hard disk failure. All of them reminisce about lost photos, assignments and other important electronic material once held on the computer.

Outside the dominion of what it is one should or should not do, the fact of the matter is that backing up to CDs, DVDs or other media is a non starter with the absolute majority of commoners. Some may take up the hobby right after a disaster but as soon as the memory of the event starts fading into the background so does the backup regime.
With the internet being consistently stable and fast the possibility of being able to backup your important stuff to an offsite server is bliss. Imagine a solution that is easy to setup and intuitively selects your important folders automatically. When you open the program it gives you a Windows Explorer type interface with the important folders already selected but lets you customize the backup list. When you hit the Backup button, the selected files and folders are copied in the background to a fast, safe and secure server. If the software cannot backup a file because it is currently being used, it prompts you about the matter and tries again later. Once a backup has been completed the programs sits quietly in the background monitoring changed files which it will update automatically. The program would keep deleted and prior versions of modified files for a specified number of days just in case you need to revert back to them.

If something happens to your computer and you lose everything, you simply install the program again and after typing in your username and password, the program automatically downloads saved backup settings so that you do not have to recreate them. This time round, when you hit the Restore button, the Windows Explorer type window comes up and you simply transfer the files from the remote server to your local computer. Similar reasoning would apply if you delete an individual file or need to revert to an earlier version of a document.

There are people who are rightfully concerned about their privacy. Most office productivity products allow you to password protect documents making them unreadable to anyone without the password. Certain file types such as images and audio files cannot be password protected at the file level although there are free programs that will create password protected archives. 7-Zip and Truecrypt are two products I have used frequently for this purpose.

Last 3 posts by Alan C

• How to restore your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7) - February 21st, 2010
• How to backup your Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook in its entirety - January 27th, 2010
• Wish You and Your Dearest a No Data Loss Year - December 31st, 2009