Personal Data Backup Support Center

IMPORTANT: University Departmental Users

University departmental users should contact their IT support staff to determine the best option for backing up data. The information in this site is intended primarily for home computers and personal machines.

Personal Data Backup Overview

With the rapid increase in the "digital lifestyle" we find more and more of our personal possessions on our computers as little bits of ones and zeroes. Pictures, home movies, music, school work, financial information, and more are all now regularly stored on our computers. With this greater digitization of our life style comes the greater possibility of a catastrophic loss. Sometimes it may be the loss of just a few documents from school or work. But in the worst case it could be an entire hard drive containing gigabytes worth of pictures, movies, school work, and important financial information. We are all only one computer virus, hardware failure, or user error away from losing that important digital information.

Although this may seem rather bleak, there is no reason to go back to keeping hard copies of all of our information. There are a multitude of tools available today to help you keep your data from being lost. The ITS Help Desk highly recommends a proactive approach to computing - scanning for and preventing viruses, spyware, adware, and malware; keeping your system up-to-date with the latest operation system patches; and keeping current backups of your data readily available and easily accessible.

The ITS Security Center has more information about keeping your computer safe and free from viruses and spyware. The instructions below are intended to provide various methods available to you for backing up your personal data and other pertinent information.

Data Backup Options

Windows CD Writing Wizard - This option is built in to the Windows operating system. To back up your data using this option, your computer will need to have a CD-RW drive or “CD burner”. You will also need several blank CDs.

Backup Utility for Windows - This option also comes built in to the Windows operating system. The utility creates a single backup file of all of your data, which you can store on your hard drive, a USB Key, an external hard drive, or burn to a CD or DVD. You can also use the same utility to restore your data from the backup file, should your data become corrupted or lost.

Knoppix Boot CD - Knoppix is a Linux boot CD created by Klaus Knopper. Don't let the word "Linux" scare you off, however. Knoppix can be used on most Windows computers and is best suited for instances where your Windows operating system has been corrupted and you are unable to boot into your desktop workspace.

SAFE (Student Academic Filespace) - ITS provides students of the University with an online storage space for your academic-related data. Files in your SAFE space are secure and backed up regularly. Store your important school papers, spreadsheets, class notes, etc. online and access them from any Internet-enabled computer.

Back up Your iTunes Music Library - If you have a large collection of music that you use with an iPod, then you probably store your music in iTunes. Use these instructions to create a back up of your iTunes music library. After creating an initial backup, Apple also provides instructions for making incremental or periodic backups of your iTunes library.

Third Party Backup Software - There are several third party software programs available that help you back up the data on your computer. Visit PC Magazine's web site to read reviews of third party backup software.

Contact the ITS Help Desk at 4-HELP (4-4357) or its-helpdesk@uiowa.edu if you need assistance or have any questions.

Last Updated: 08/18/2008