Do you have to back-up your pc?

[Jenga]

My pc keeps telling me I have not created a back-up? Do I have to buy something to back it up?

[beso]

Just zip your My Documents Folder and burn it to a CD. If the file is too big you will have to distribute the folders across a number of disks.

[ACtheTROLL]

I'm guessing that it's not your laptop the exact message would be useful .... but quite probably it's telling you to make a set of system discs.

some sellers provide a set of CDs containing everything you need to recover from a disaster.

some put an image of the files on your HDD and nag you to make your own ....

it's well worth doing (keep them somewhere safe .... ) .... just in case

[vehelpfulguy]

What operating system are you using?

Sounds like it may be Vista but just checking.

[Iolanthe]

As you may have too much data to go on even a few disks, you may find it useful to buy yourself an external hard drive which can be used as a backup for your whole data block, photographs etc.

It plugs into a USB port like other peripherals eg MP3 player, and you copy onto it as normal. If you have a lot of data, it would take a while, but you could copy it across in smaller blocks as required. When you want to update the back-up, you can copy across a later version and then delete the earlier one.

They come in all sizes and memory, some similar to an MP3 player.

We've just bought one for �74.99 which has 360 GB (very good value) from our local computer shop . The one I have is not very large, about A5 sizeish (5" x 8" x 1" deep)and is portable and easy to store. I also bought one for my daughter as she wanted to back up all her data for security.

Hope this helps.

[KRUSTYMAN]

Relax - I'm sure, with the greatest respect to the other ABers, that the previous answers will have left you a little confused. Just have a couple of blank dvd's ready and follow the on screen prompts. It's simple and painles. Do let us all know how you get on?

[ACtheTROLL]

krusty ... couldn't have put it better myself .....

hang on I didn't put it anywhere as well .... sometimes we are just too interested in the answer

[Jenga]

Sorry everyone this is the first time I have had a minute to get back to your kind answers.

Vehelpfulguy - yes it is Vista.

I did save some photos onto a CD but I thought they looked like they lost some quality when I looked at them on the CD to check they had downloaded properly.

I guess the best thing is to save things onto CD's on a regular basis. I don't want to buy anymore equipment. I have already saved the odd important file.