File Back Up Instructions

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File Back Up Information and Instructions

It is your responsibility to keep a current back-up of your files. If your computer suffers a hard drive failure or other problem every reasonable effort will be made to assist you in recovering Lander University related files; however, some computer failures result in the loss of all the data (files) stored on the hard drive.

Recovery of data from a damaged hard drive is a time-consuming process and is often unsuccessful. If you suffer a hard drive failure and ITS cannot recover files, you may have an option to send the damaged hard drive to an independent contractor that has tools that might help recover your data at your own expense. Please protect your data and get in the habit of regularly backing up your computer files. Note that ITS will attempt to recover University-related files only, not personal picture, movie, or music collections.

Options for creating file backups include:

Back Up to CD or DVD (Preferred)
Back Up to USB Drive (Not a permanent back-up solution. Use for documents you are currently working on or transferring between computers)
Back Up to External Hard Drive (Not covered on this webpage)

Have questions? Need help? Contact the ITS Help Desk at (864) 388-8234.

Note: If you are a faculty or staff member and use your Network Share Folder, files that are kept in your Networked folder should be backed up by you on a regular basis. While it is very rare for problems to occur retrieving files from the ITS backup, it can happen. Protect your work by making a practice of creating regular file backups.

To Back Up Your Files to CD or DVD (Windows XP and Vista):

CDs or DVDs are a good choice of media to archive your files. With a CD or DVD, you can quickly and easily create a portable backup copy of your files. The most reliable CDs or DVDs to backup your files are CD-R or DVD-R disks, which are written to one time. The CD-RW or DVD-RW disks can be written to multiple times; however, unexpected results (overwriting your backup files) can occur unless you are very careful about how you name and re-name your documents. For this reason ITS recommends that you back up your files to CD-R or DVD-R disks. (Note that in general, Lander University computers that have Windows XP installed will have a CD/DVD RW drive installed and Lander University Computers that have Windows VISTA installed will have a DVD RW drive installed.)

Open My Documents or another location that houses the files you wish to back up.
Select those files that you want to back up. Select individual files by clicking once. Hold down the Ctrl key to select additional files. Select a range of adjacent files by clicking on the first file, then holding down the Shift key and clicking on the last file in the range. Select all the files in the folder by choosing Edit > Select All from the file menu across the top of the screen (or use the Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut).
Choose Edit > Copy (or Ctrl + C) to copy the selected folders. -OR- With the files you want to copy highlighted, right-click and choose Send To > DVD/CD-RW Drive (Usually identified as D:).
Navigate to your DVD/CD-RW or DVD/RW Drive. (You can go to My Computer and click on the drive.) Select Edit > Paste from the file menu (Ctrl + V) or verify that the files you sent to the DVD/CD-RW or DVD/RW Drive in the previous step appear here.
From the CD Writing Tasks Pane on the left side of the window, select " Write these files to CD." This will launch the CD Writing Wizard built into Windows XP.
Choose a name for the Backup CD you are about to Write. There is a 16-character limit to the name you can give your CD and click on the Next button.
If you have not yet put a blank CD into the CD drive, you will see this screen. Insert a blank CD.
Once you have inserted a CD, the wizard will write the files to your blank CD. You will see a progress screen while the files are being written.
If you see a message telling you that the Wizard cannot write the files to the CD because you need to reduce the number of files to be written, close the CD Writing Wizard. Navigate to My Computer. Click on the DVD/CD or DVD/RW Drive and delete some of the files to be written until your total file size is below the limit displayed by the CD Writing Wizard.
When the files have been written to the CD, you will see a screen titled " Completing the CD Writing Wizard." You have the option to create another CD with the same files or to exit the CD Writing Wizard by clicking on the Finish button.

Have questions? Need help? Contact the ITS Help Desk at (864) 388-8234.

To Back Up Your Files to USB (Thumb) drive (Windows XP and VISTA):

USB Drives are convenient and very portable, making it easy to move your files between computers or to keep quick backups of files on which you are currently working; however, they are not as reliable as CD or DVD media for longer-term storage or back up. USB drives are often called jump drives or thumb drives. They are readily available, fairly inexpensive, and can be used on any computer with a USB port.

The first time you insert a USB drive into your computer, it may take a few minutes for Windows to recognize the device and prepare it for use. Thereafter, each time you insert the USB drive, it will appear in My Computer as a removable disk.

Open My Documents or another location that houses the files you wish to back up.
Select those files that you want to back up. Select individual files by clicking once. Hold down the Ctrl key to select additional files. Select a range of adjacent files by clicking on the first file, then holding down the Shift key and clicking on the last file in the range. Select all the files in the folder by choosing Edit > Select All from the file menu across the top of the screen (or use the Ctrl + A keyboard shortcut).
Choose Edit > Copy (or Ctrl + C) to copy the selected folders. -OR- With the files you want to copy highlighted, right-click and choose Send To > Removable Disk (E:). Note that your Removable Disk may not be identified as (E:) depending on the configuration of your computer.
Navigate to your removable disk (USB Drive) be going to My Computer and clicking on the Removable Disk from there.
Verify that the files you sent to the Removable Disk in the previous step appear here, or select Edit > Paste from the file menu (Ctrl + V).

Have questions? Need help? Contact the ITS Help Desk at (864) 388-8234.