Creating Personal Recovery and Backup Strategies Creating back-up copies of important files is the responsibility of each individual computer owner, or in the case of University-owned computers, the responsibility of the primary user of that computer. This document is a guide to creating a personal recovery and backup strategy.

Organization

The first step to creating a personal recovery and backup strategy is to organize your computer so that it is easy to identify those files that need to be recovered. Consider all possible negative events, including fire, theft, viruses, and disk failure. Strategies for organizing your computer need to include:

1. Creating a separate directory (exempli gratia “My Documents”) where all critical files are stored.
2. Locating software installation disks for all software running on the laptop.
3. Reviewing the PC Checklist to identify options in usage on the computer, including printers and devices that are regularly used.

Location of Backup

An appropriate storage location must be identified. This location should not be in the same building as the primary computer. Backing up CDs, DVDs, flash drives, external hard drives, internal hard drives, mobile devices, et cetera is an invalid backup strategy unless the backup media is physically removed on a daily basis from the primary location. The Dodge Hall Datacenter (220 Dodge Hall of Engineering) has facilities for backup storage on an arranged basis, including a fire-proof vault. Backup files, installation disks, and a copy of the PC checklist either on paper or stored in a file are reasonable materials to keep for backup purposes.

Selection of Backup Media

Individuals may select from a variety of backup media choices. Options for shared storage are described at http://www.oakland.edu/uts/storage. Options to consider include:

1. Desktop managed strategy, such as CDs, DVDs, flash drives, external hard drives, internal hard drives in RAID configuration, mobile devices such as either a mobile telephone or portable a music player, et cetera.
2. Files storage via OakShare at https://files.oakland.edu/ accessed by a NetID account, which is allocated 200 MB to faculty, staff, and students with more space available upon request.
3. Windows file share at smb://shares.oakland.edu/ or \\shares.oakland.edu\.
4. Course management materials that can be stored in Moodle at https://moodle.oakland.edu/.
5. Webdocs Powered by Google at https://webmail.oakland.edu/ that can be accessed via a NetID account and then by clicking the word “Documents” in the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Please contact the Helpdesk if you need assistance in evaluating these choices and selecting the one that is best for you.

Backup of Windows Personal Folders

Windows Explorer is one way to create a backup of selected files. You can open two Explorer windows, one with the directory of the original file and the other with the destination directory for the backups, and simply drag and drop the files that you want to copy. To use a CD:

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Locate the directory where the files to be backed up are stored.
3. If the computer is running Microsoft Windows XP and the computer has a CD burner, selected files can be copied to the CD-RW drive. Windows will inform the user that files are waiting to be written to the CD with an icon in the system tray. After placing a burnable CD in the CD drive, this icon can be clicked to start the burn process.
4. If Microsoft Windows XP is not being used, a CD burner program must be used. Each burning program works in a different fashion. Consult the manual of the CD burning software for details on how to use the software.

Backup of Webmail Powered by Google Messages

If you are using POP with Microsoft Outlook, then your messages and contacts are stored locally. If you are using IMAP with Microsoft Outlook, then your messages are stored remotely and need to be copied locally. You can choose to copy those messages that you want to back-up.

1. Open Microsoft Outlook and select File [menu]>“Import and Export”.
2. Select “Export to a file” from the “Choose an action to perform:” dropdown list, and then click the “Next [button]”.
3. Select “Personal Folder File (.pst)” from the “Create a file of type:” dropdown list, and then click the “Next [button]”.
4. Check “Include subfolders” and select the directory that you want to back up from the “Select a folder to export from:” drop-down list such as “Webmail Powered by Google”. Note that default path is “C:\Documents and Settings\[name of user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\”. Enter a suffix of “[name of file].pst”. Leave the default for “Options”, which is “Replace duplicates with items exported”. Click the “Next [button]”.
5. For “Personal Folders”, repeat steps #5 through #8 with the selection in step #8 of “Personal Folders” instead of “Webmail Powered by Google”.
6. For “Contacts”, repeat steps #5 through #8 with the selection of the subdirectory “Contacts” under “Webmail Powered by Google”.
7. Close Microsoft Outlook.
8. Copy the backup files to a CD.

Backup of Webmail Powered by Google Contacts

In order to back up your contacts:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Contacts” in the left-hand size of the screen.
2. Click “Export” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
3. Select which contacts you want to export. You can choose either a group or all contacts.
4. Select the format for output. When in doubt, create a copy of each format so that you will be certain that the importing program will be able to process it.
5. Click the “Export” [button] and select a directory.

In order to restore your contacts:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Contacts” in the left-hand size of the screen.
2. Click “Import” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
3. Click the “Browse” [button] and select the file that contains your contacts.
4. If you select “Also add these imported contacts to:” either an existent group or a new group.
5. Select the format for output. When in doubt, create a copy of each format so that you will be certain that the importing program will be able to process it.
6. Click the “Import” [button].

Backup of Webcal Powered by Google Events

In order to back up your events:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Calendar” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Click “Settings” under “My calendars” and then click “Export My Calendars”, which will download a compressed file containing each of your calendars in iCalendar format.

In order to restore your events:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Calendar” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen
2. Click the “Add” [down-arrow button] at the bottom of the calendar list on the left-hand side of the page, and select the “Import Calendar” [option].
3. Click the “Browse” [button] and choose the file that contains your events, then click the “Open” [button].
4. Select the calendar where you want to import events and click the “Import” [button].

Backup of Webdocs Powered by Google Files

In order to back up your files:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Docs” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Click the name of the file that you want to back up.
3. Click the File [menu]>Export>Select the file format.
4. Address any options concerning the file format such as “What parts?”, “How big?”, “Which way?”, and “What paper size?” and click the “Export” [button].
5. Select the directory to save the file and click the “OK” [button].

In order to restore your files that do not exist on Webdocs Powered by Google:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Docs” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Click the “Upload” [button] in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
3. Either click the “Browse” [button] and select the file from your directories or enter the address of the file on the Internet.
4. Enter an optional name of the file.
5. Click the “Upload File” [button].

In order to restore your files that exist on Webdocs Powered by Google:

1. Log into https://webmail.oakland.edu/ and click the word “Docs” in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
2. Click the name of the file, which will open a new tab with the file.
3. Click File [menu]>Import>Browse [button>]>Select the file>Open [button].

Connecting to OakShare and Uploading Files

University Technology Services (UTS) has implemented a centralized storage system called OakShare at https://files.oakland.edu/ that allows for easy sharing of research and a general-purpose file repository for students, faculty, and staff. The system requires a NetID in order to log into the service. This system allows for transmissions of “links” to files so that you can provide access to files without using e-mail attachments. Visit the OakShare help pages at http://www.oakland.edu/uts/storage.

Using the Microsoft Windows XP Backup Utility

Microsoft Windows XP has a built-in backup utility. To back up the files:

1. Click the Start [button]>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Backup. If you can not find it there, then you can find it at “C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe”.
2. When the Wizard begins, click the Next [button].
3. Choose the option “Back up files and settings”.
4. Choose what to back up. There are four options:
   1. “My documents and settings” (only the files of the current user)
   2. “Everyone’s documents and settings” (the “My Documents” directories of all users on this computer will have their files backed up)
   3. “All information on this computer” (can be used to create a Windows restore disk)
   4. “Let me choose what to back up” (you can select which directories to copy)
5. Select files to copy, if you chose “Let me choose what to back up”. If the first three options are selected, this step is done automatically.
6. On the next screen, select the destination drive and give the backup files a name. Click the Next [button] in order to continue.
7. On the last screen, the wizard will display the “Name”, “Description”, “Contents”, and “Location”. Clicking the Finish [button] will start the backup.
8. The “Backup Progress” will display. Once the backup is complete, press the “Close” [button].

To restore the files:

1. Click the Start [button]>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Backup. If you can not find it there, then you can find it at “C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntbackup.exe”.
2. Begin the wizard and hit the “Next” [button]. Ensure that the external media containing the backed up data is in the disk drive.
3. On the second screen, select the option “Restore files and settings”.
4. Navigate through the menu and locate the files to be restored, which will be [name of file].bkf.
5. The wizard will display the summary page of the operation which is about to be performed. It lists the “Restore from”, the “Type”, the “Restore to”, and “Existing files”. Upon pressing Finish [button], the restoration will begin.
6. Once the process has completed, press the “Close” [button].

Microsoft Windows 7 Back up Procedures

• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore
• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-your-files

Apple Mac OS X 10.6 Back up Procedures 

• http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1553
• http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427

GNU/Linux Back up Procedures

• http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/perform-backups-for-the-linux-operating-system.html
• http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-and-unix-backing-up-key-information-or-files.html