Back Up PC or Laptop

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pudds

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Would like to get a 2nd hand pc for back up but how much should I pay and what to look out for. I know I need earthenet conn and preferrable win xp but how can I be sure its not virus laden? or on its last legs
 
Why in Gods name would you want to go to the expense of a second PC just for backup????

Ther are so many cheaper methods.
 
Do you mean a spare PC as a backup in case yours stops working.

Or another PC to do a backup of the data on your PC?
 
Why in Gods name would you want to go to the expense of a second PC just for backup????

Ther are so many cheaper methods.
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Do you mean a spare PC as a backup in case yours stops working.
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By back up I mean if my pc has problems and am unable to connect to internet for help (assuming its not a BB conn) would be nice to have a back up to get help and hopefully sort probs out.

Sorry guys I didn't explain that to clearly.
 
pudds said:
Would like to get a 2nd hand pc for back up but how much should I pay and what to look out for. I know I need earthenet conn and preferrable win xp but how can I be sure its not virus laden? or on its last legs
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I operate a home office.

I have a laptop - Win2K, gen reliable, but hard drive sat down in 2008 and it cost nearly a grand to retrieve information and get back up and running.

Luckily I had most of my files already backed up to an external hard drive and I also had use of a computer running WinXP, which effectively saved my practice.

The Laptop was state of the art when I got it and cost €4,200 or so an IBM Thinkpad with a wide angle, hi-res screen, 512Mb RAM, ATI graphics card, etc.

The PC OTOH cost €1350 in an end-of-model line sale and is an E-Machine - effectively a rebranded Gateway [remember them?]

Not a brand to write home about I used to think from reading the popular press, yet it was the laptop that sat down and the pC is still soldiering on.

[in fact both are now up and running well again touch wood...]

To answer your question, buy the newest cheapest you can afford. Although I haven't used one, the BIL has one IIRC and Acer seem ot be a good make.

If buying second hand you don't know what files or viruses is on the disk and you should carry out a low level for, at and reinstall. Some machines have a partition on the HD that will allow you to do this.

The most recent machines won't needles endless "upgrades" from Microsoft before you can up and running.

[I had 2 days of installing patches for my Win2K machine to bring it up to SP4 standard again...]

WinXP is still reliable and will do most things you ask of it. Buy Win7 if you can afford it for future-proofing.

And don't forget the external hard drive for backup and file transfer - its only €100-odd for a Terabyte now I think.

HTH

ONQ.
 
I'd get a New cheap laptop as a backup. Far less hassle than a 2nd pc.

Alternatively buy used parts on the web and build a 2nd pc. That would be a good learning experience and not be expensive.

I've always found it handy to have a spare computer around. I have two laptops though. A big one and a small one.
 
One of the little netbooks could be the job.

Seems to be some pretty good value in them.

Anyone know if windows 7 works better on these.
 
I think you'd need the higher spec'd (thus more expensive netbook) to run Windows 7 on them. Theres a few here...[broken link removed] Guy at work is running Windows 7 on one no problem.

Personally I'd miss the bigger screen and DVD drive of normal laptop. I uses a Dell M1330 which is a 13" with an extended battery. Its a low spec, but its fine as a backup and watching movies etc. Quite small and light but nothing like as tiny as a netbook. I got mine off the Dell outlet, for about €400. The Dell netbook isn't as good as some of the other ones, but they do thave them on the outlet from time to time. The outlet is not working at the moment though.

Netbook might be ideal as backup. Guy I know has a 3 mobile sim in it, so he has web access in it everywhere.
 
Seems a bit OTT to buy a PC for this purpose. You'll probably find that family/friend/office has an old laptop or PC lying around if you really need one for a couple of weeks. Focus on your data first - do you back up the data on your PC regularly?
 
SparkRite said:
Prey tell what is the point that I am missing completely???
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pudds: By back up I mean if my pc has problems and am unable to connect to internet for help (assuming its not a BB conn) would be nice to have a back up to get help and hopefully sort probs out.

Sorry guys I didn't explain that to clearly.
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onq: buy the newest cheapest you can afford.
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I think that is sound advice unless I happen to hear from someone I know, who is upgrading and can stand by the oul wan
 
I don't disagree with Complainer. Recycling an old PC for this is a good idea. If you can get a old PC that useful then that would be cheaper. For sure especially if you don't use it at all.

But if you have a business 300~400 is not much to have some redundency. In case theres a problem with a PC. Its also a good idea to practise switching between machines when you don't need to. So that you iron out any problems. Because when you do need it, you don't want to find the backup has a problem.

That said a new machine is faster, has a warranty and a licensed OS. Time is money and you might not want to be fiddling around with an old machine if you need to do something now.
 

no I'm not in business as past my sell by date just like to have a back up plan in case things go pear shaped.


Q. My laptop has Ethernet conn for BB but if older pc's didnt have this would that be a problem!
 
Hey Pudds

The following is my backup and disaster recovery strategy

I have 2 identical laptops, HP NC6000, not so new. The first one I bought new, the second one I bought secondhand on ebay for 150 quid

If laptop A breaks down with a hardware problem, I whip the harddrive out, and put it into laptop B, and start working on laptop B. This way I lose no work, and no time if laptop A fails.

As a backup strategy, I use Norton Ghost, I've been using this for many years now, it's good software. I do a Ghost backup every week.
If Laptop A gets a Virus of malware or something bad, I can restore the laptop to the state it was in when I made the last Ghost backup very quickly. I also use Window system restore sometimes.

The ghost backup can be made to either laptop A or laptop B.
 
I think just having a spare hard disk drive and keeping your important documents on that would be sufficient to be honest.

Back the files up regularly so you would always have the latest ones saved.

Actually buying a 2nd PC is a bit OTT if you ask me.

If your laptop gets corrupted etc then its only a matter of reformatting it to fresh again and loading Windows XP or Vista etc and then you are back up and running.

If the hard drive dies on it, then just buy a replacement cheaply enough, stick it in and load Windows etc.

You will always be able to use a friends or library PC to get on the Net to get answers for your own PC if it dies.

Backup HDDs are cheap as chips now, and noone should be running a PC that hasn't got files/photos/personal docs backed up.
 
Complainer said:
Seems a bit OTT to buy a PC for this purpose. You'll probably find that family/friend/office has an old laptop or PC lying around if you really need one for a couple of weeks. Focus on your data first - do you back up the data on your PC regularly?
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+1

Buy an external hard disk and back up your contents.
If your PC dies, run down to Currys/Harveys/Anywhere, buy a laptop for 500 quid and you're up and running in 1-2 hours.
 
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