Windows Vista Backup -- Does this render the use for a backup drive obsolete?

Hi,I have been planning for building a new computer for quite some time now, and early in the process, I decided to buy two 250 GB hard drives; one as my primary function hard drive which I would use for basically everything, and the other for use only as a backup drive in which I would copy all of my important files (mostly picture and videos) over.However, after deciding to purchase either a full copy of Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, I learned that there were some great new backup options available with Vista, including Automatic Backup, Scheduled and Network backup, and Windows Complete Backup and Restore. (more details at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/backup.mspx)Are the Windows Vista Backup systems reliable?In truth, I would much rather buy one drive and use Vista's backup systems instead (since it's the only drive I would be using anyway) rather than waste my money on a second just for copying important files over to. I may even be able to spend the money saved from not buying the second drive into one 500 MB hard drive instead! My question is: does Windows Vista Backup render the use of a backup drive unnecessary and obsolete?Thank you! :) Windows Vista Backup -- Does this render the use for a backup drive obsolete?
I am not sure I understand. No matter the backup software, you still need to store it somewhere else so a second drive/computer/backup deviceis always necessary.Windows Vista Backup -- Does this render the use for a backup drive obsolete?
Oh right, I forgot that it still needs some place to store the backup, silly me. :(So what would you reccommend? Getting one hard drive and storing the backups on the same hard drive, or getting two and saving the backups on the other?What are the chances of a hard drive completely being destroyed for any reason or corrupted or something? I don't know anything about backups and precautions.Could someone please tell me what precautions to take in protecting my valuable files from being lost in hard drive failures? What are the possible factors/outcomes of a hard drive failure, and what are the chances?Thank you!
Having a backup on the same drive as the orginal data is the worst kind of setup. If that drive fails, you lose everything. The only advantage is that you have a backup copy in case you screw up the original file. It's impossible to tell the odds of having a HD fail and lose all the data. Usually, when a drive is about to fail, you get signals and time enough to save the data, but not always. A drive may work for 6 years without a hitch, but it can also die in a matter of days.So you should have at least 2 drives and preferably, the backup drive should be external and kept in another place than the PC when not used. If for one reason, you pc is completely destroyed or gets stolen, you still have a copy on the other disk. Most people don't go as far though. If you are always connected to a network, an easy and economical solution is to have the data copied on another PC on the network.
[QUOTE=''Gog'']Having a backup on the same drive as the orginal data is the worst kind of setup. If that drive fails, you lose everything. The only advantage is that you have a backup copy in case you screw up the original file. It's impossible to tell the odds of having a HD fail and lose all the data. Usually, when a drive is about to fail, you get signals and time enough to save the data, but not always. A drive may work for 6 years without a hitch, but it can also die in a matter of days.So you should have at least 2 drives and preferably, the backup drive should be external and kept in another place than the PC when not used. If for one reason, you pc is completely destroyed or gets stolen, you still have a copy on the other disk. Most people don't go as far though. If you are always connected to a network, an easy and economical solution is to have the data copied on another PC on the network.[/QUOTE]Ah, alright, I understand.I will probably go for an internal backup drive, since I doubt there will be a high chance of my computer being utterly destroyed or stolen.How compressed will Vista create backup files? Will they be compressed at all? I'm wondering if I should buy a smaller backup drive to save money.Or is it useful to have both primary and backup drives of the same size? Or different? I will be putting everything in the primary drive and only important files (pictures, videos, projects, web design coding, etc) in my backup drive.What sizes would you reccommend for my drives? I will be using my computer primarily for gaming, web design, and photography. It will consume lots of memory in the long run.Thanks!
Bump.
The backup system stores files in 200 MB zip files. The compression ratio depends on the type of files you backup (videos and pictures are already compressed for example so zipping them won't make them much smaller), on average, you can expect a 2:1 ratio.How large your disk(s) should be? You're the most suitable person to answer that question. See how much space you've accumulated over the last 6 months and extrapolate how much you'll need based on that for the next few years. The standard disk is 250 or 320 GB these days. Your backup drive should be around the same size to make sure you can fit everything on it. Also take into account that disk drive space needs double every 24 months.