External hard drive for automatic backup

[koster]

Hello,

My (not very computer literate) dad would like an external hard drive so that he can have an automatic backup of everything on the computer.

There are obviously plenty of external hard drives to choose from. He has Windows Vista. My question is, is there a built-in feature of Vista that would automatically do a periodic backup, and is it best to use that?

Or do some of these external hard drives come bundled with their own backup software, and is it best to use that?

It should be some kind of solution that works in the background and requires absolutely zero intervention from him. He only has the computer switched on when he's using it, so if you set it up to back up at the same time every day, that time would often be missed. presumably it would then run the back up as soon as the computer was switched on. Would that slow the computer down?

Thanks!

[Buenchico]

Windows Vista allows you to set up automatic backups:
http://windows.micros...matic-backup-settings

Chris

[VHG]

>so that he can have an automatic backup of everything on the computer.

You dont want automated backup of everything on the computer. If you did EVERYTHING on the computer on a regular basis the files will be huge and it will soon fill up your external hard drive.

It is good to do a "one off" backup of everything, but from then on you really only need to backup files that have been recently changed.

Some external hard drives do come with backup software, but I have never used any.

[TTG]

macrium reflect is free and will backup your operating system as well as important files. Maybe do this FULL backup once a month. You can also compress the backup so it takes up less space. The backup can also be opened and 'browsed' to. Individual files can then be copied from it. Computer Active magazine recommends this as the best free backup software.

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

[koster]

Thanks for your answers.

The main criterion here is that absolutely zero user interaction will be required. I want to visit my parents at Christmas, set this thing up, and not get a single phone call about it for the next twelve months. There should be no button to press, nothing appearing on the screen other than perhaps a reassuring message saying that the backup has happened successfully, and no noticeable slowing down of the computer.

With most backup systems I know of, you set it to backup at a certain time, e.g. every day at midnight. That won't work here, because the computer is switched off when it's not in use.

Any ideas?

[koster]

P.S. Please could you tell me what the difference is between the built-in functionality of Windows Vista, and Macrium Reflect? Is there something that Macrium Reflect can do that Windows Vista can't?

I don't care about being able to backup individual files, I only care about compressing the backup if this happening automatically without the user doing anything, and I don't care how easy or difficult it is to open the backup - I just want it to be easy for the backup to be done.