Fast, Easy Backups
For Win98 / ME / NT / 2K / XP
Copyright © 1997-2005 Fred Langa/ Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved.
3) PREP WORK: MINIMIZE UNNECESSARY JUNK
A full backup involves moving (actually, copying) everything on your PC to another storage medium or device. Why waste time and storage processing junk files you don’t need?
For example, by default, both the Recycle Bin and Internet Explorer's Cache want to consume ridiculous amounts of your hard drive space, and these files --- almost always junk--- will get caught up in any full backup you do. So, to reduce the amount of junk in your backups, curb the appetites of these space-hogs: Right click on the Recycle Bin, select Properties, and decide how much space you want the Recycle Bin to consume either for all drives in your system or on a per-drive basis. (I adjust the slider way to the left.)
Similarly, open Internet Explorer, and select Tools/Internet Options. Under Temporary Internet Files, click the Settings button and select a reasonable size for this cache area. Generally speaking, if you have a fast connection, 5 Mbytes to 10 Mbytes is adequate; 25 Mbytes or so is usually enough with a slower dial-up connection.
If you use WinME or XP, you may similarly wish to slim down the System Restore applet, which otherwise can consume huge amounts of disk space. And if you have your system set to “Hibernate,” you may wish to delete the large, on-disk hibernation file prior to making a backup.
You also may wish to consider uninstalling software you never use, and that you’re sure you’ll never need again. And, if you have lots of old files you don’t want to discard, but also rarely use, consider compressing them into a Zip file. (Newer versions of Windows, like XP, can compress old files automatically.) If you’re using an uncompressed backup format, having old files in Zip format will save you time and space; and even if you’re using a compressed backup format, Zipping collections of old files will reduce the number of separate files your backup has to track and process.
After doing the above, and before every backup, empty the Recycle Bin, flush Internet Explorer’s cache, and use “CleanMgr” (Windows’ built-in cleanup tool: Start/Run/CleanMgr ; see also this and this ) to reduce the remaining junk files on your system. You may wish to use other tools, too, such as third-party cleanup utilities like CleanSweep or the Clean9x.bat files ( http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm ).
Next: ORGANIZE YOUR HARD DRIVE
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