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Backing Up Your Data
All faculty and staff are responsible for
managing their KCC-related work documents. File management tasks include
being able to locate files on both a personal hard drive and the KCC
network drives. File management also includes being able to back up your
files.
Why are backups a
necessity?
Events can happen even under the
best of circumstances and you need to know how to manage your data.
The College cannot protect you from loss of files, only you are
responsible for finding and backing up all your personal files. For this
you will need to get to know your system, identify the files you need to
keep safe, and do frequent backups.
You should backup your important files at
least once a week. To determine how important your files are to you,
imagine if your computer crashed at this very moment and none of your
files existed any where else. If you cringe at the very thought of
this event - you should backup your work!
Reasons for backing up your files include:
- hard drives do crash,
- files can accidentally be deleted or
become corrupt, and
- you may upgrade to a new machine and
need to move your files.
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Where do I backup my
files?
All faculty and staff have a
“personal folder” on the KCC network that is a secure,
password-protected folder. Every night the files on the KCC network
are backed up by the I.S. department. If you copy your important
files to your “personal folder” you will then have multiple copies
in case of emergency. There will be a copy on your hard drive,
another copy in your “personal folder”, and another copy in the I.S.
backup files that can be restored in emergencies.
Do I need to backup
the software on my computer?
No. At KCC, you need not backup your software, as the I.S.
department can always reinstall such software. Nor is it recommended
that you attempt to backup personal software, as this generally
needs to be reinstalled (not just copied) if there are problems or you move your files
to a new machine. Backup only your personal files and you will find
that this is not a difficult task.
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What type of files
should I back up?
Authored work-related files:
- files created by Microsoft Word,
PowerPoint, Excel, Access, etc.
- files created by any special
software:
- gradebook software,
- files authored using
textbook-specific software
- web pages (FrontPage files),
- Palm desktop data (calendar,
addresses, to-do’s, notes)
Web browsing files:
- Any and all Netscape Bookmarks or
Internet Explorer Favorites
- Netscape bookmarks: C:\Program
Files\Netscape\Users\lastnamefirstinitial\bookmark.htm –
backup the “bookmark.htm” file (if you have copied your entire
"last name first initial" folder then you have copied this file
already)
- Internet Explorer Favorites:
C:\Windows\Favorites – backup the entire “Favorites” folder
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How do I locate my
“personal folder” on the KCC network?
To locate your "personal folder" on the network open the application
Windows Explorer (Start > Programs > Windows Explorer) on
your computer.
Network drives begin with the letters F
through Z. View all of the network drives you have until you find a
folder titled with your departmental area (e.g. for a social science
staff member it would most likely be "M:/Academics/Social-Sciences").
In this folder you should find a “staff”
folder and then within that folder you should find a folder with your
last name first initial (e.g. "haringe" for Ed Haring). This is your
personal folder on the network and it is here where you should place
copies of files you want to backup.
How do I backup
my data to my "personal folder" on the network?
Using the file management application known as Windows Explorer
you can easily backup your important work to your "personal folder"
on the network.
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Last updated
September 04, 2003
learntec@kellogg.edu
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