Quick Computer Question

[Tracy]

I'm getting ready to unplug my computer so I can move it to another room before the guys come tomorrow to relocate my internet hookup.  Do I need to do anything special before I shut it down and unplug it, i.e., back anything up?  I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to this stuff and I knew you guys were the ones to help.  Thanks!

[efranks]

You shouldn't have any problems just unplugging to move to a different room.

Having said that, however, doing backups of your important data is never a bad idea.  Especially if you haven't done it in a while.

   E...

[Tracy]

I've never backed up any data myself .  Occasionally when I shut down I get a little graphic that says says "Backing up Personal Data".  Is that sufficient?  Told you I was clueless about this...........

[Nathan]

That's just backing things up internally within the computer (saving your settings, I imagine).

To do a real backup, what you're looking for is an external source, which these days means an external hard drive. Used to be you could back up all your stuff on floppies or a few Zip disks, but space-wise those don't cut it anymore, especially if you have any quantity of music or video.

In that case all you really need to do is copy your files, documents, etc. over onto the other drive, via good-old-fashioned Control-C or rightclick-and-drag. There are ways to back up other settings and programs, but I rarely mess with those so you'd need someone tech-savvy to walk you through that.

But as long as you're just unplugging it and moving it, your biggest worry is dropping it.

[Tracy]

But as long as you're just unplugging it and moving it, your biggest worry is dropping it.

LOL -- I'll leave that up to the hubby.   The only thing of real importance I have on there is pictures, and they've all been backed up to discs.  Thanks for the info!

[Jesse James]

I tend to put all music and pictures to CD, and that's my back-up Tracy...  If you can get an external HD like mentioned, it's ag ood idea.  I cannot afford much, so I tend not to bother...  I have regretted it in the past though...  I do make sure and save my favorites folder, my "My Folder" on my computer, and that's really about it.  Those are the two things witht he most data in them that I feel I cannot do without.  Everything else, if lost, can simply be reinstalled.

As far as moving it goes, simply shut your computer down the proper way (click "start", then "Turn off computer", blah blah blah), and it's on its way.