Win XP NTFS system - what is best for small backups - what good is the floppy?

[Randy O.]

I built a new computer for my father. I put in one 120 GB WD HD with 8 MB
cashe, and partitioned it in to 2 sections. I have one section (C drive)for
Windows XP home version plus his programs, and the other partion now called
D drive is for data (lots of photos). His chief use of the computer is for
genealogy and surfing the Net. He needs to do small backups of his Family
Tree Maker files because he is always adding data to the program. What is
the cheapest most efficient way to do small backups? My system is Windows
XP home version, but all my hard drives are in FAT32; thus, I can use a
floppy drive. Can he use his floppy drive for any kind of backup of his
compressed Family Tree Maker files ( I think Not)? I only see one use for
his floppy drive, and that is to do mother board bios flashing with dos
disks (am I wrong here?). I was thinking of adding an old ATA 100 hard
drive(it does not have the 8 MB cashe) as a slave to his secondary master
CDRW drive as a means of backup ( WILL THIS WORK?) in case his big hard
drive crashes. Does he even need a floppy drive anymore -- if not what is
a good thing to do with the extra space removing it would provide?

Another question --- If I convert my own computer's FAT32 system(runs Win
XP) to NTFS is it probable that I will end up with problems on my system
disk (C: drive); it has many programs (esp. MS office, and many Adobe
programs - PS and Illustrator are some)? Do you think it might be a better
idea for me to convert when I do a motherboard upgrade ( a whole new
computer rebuild) in perhaps 6 months? I suppose CD-R disks are the
cheapest way my father and I can exchange data whether or not I do the NTFS
change?

Sincerely -- Randy O.

[Dan DeStefano]

the hard disk file system really has nothing to do with the ability to use
floppies. floppies cannot be formated with anything other than regular fat,
not fat32, not ntfs. you have several options to perform backups. if the
files are small enough to fit on a single floppy, then that would be the
easiest. probably the best way to go would be to use cdrw's. in windows xp
you can simply drag and drop files onto cdrw drives, then right click the
drive and select "write files to cd", however, using a 3rd party burning
program, such as cd mate, easy cd creator, nero, would create more
platform-independant copies. another option would be to purchase an external
usb2.0/firewire hard drive and automate backups using the built-in nt backup
utility (though in xp home, you will have to install this feature from the
xp home cdrom:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;302894&). all major
hard drive manufacturers make external drives - i have a western digital
40gb usb2.0, which i love.

hope this helps

Dan DeStefano


"Randy O." > wrote in message
...
> I built a new computer for my father. I put in one 120 GB WD HD with 8 MB
> cashe, and partitioned it in to 2 sections. I have one section (C
drive)for
> Windows XP home version plus his programs, and the other partion now
called
> D drive is for data (lots of photos). His chief use of the computer is
for
> genealogy and surfing the Net. He needs to do small backups of his Family
> Tree Maker files because he is always adding data to the program. What
is
> the cheapest most efficient way to do small backups? My system is Windows
> XP home version, but all my hard drives are in FAT32; thus, I can use a
> floppy drive. Can he use his floppy drive for any kind of backup of his
> compressed Family Tree Maker files ( I think Not)? I only see one use for
> his floppy drive, and that is to do mother board bios flashing with dos
> disks (am I wrong here?). I was thinking of adding an old ATA 100 hard
> drive(it does not have the 8 MB cashe) as a slave to his secondary master
> CDRW drive as a means of backup ( WILL THIS WORK?) in case his big hard
> drive crashes. Does he even need a floppy drive anymore -- if not what
is
> a good thing to do with the extra space removing it would provide?
>
> Another question --- If I convert my own computer's FAT32 system(runs Win
> XP) to NTFS is it probable that I will end up with problems on my system
> disk (C: drive); it has many programs (esp. MS office, and many Adobe
> programs - PS and Illustrator are some)? Do you think it might be a
better
> idea for me to convert when I do a motherboard upgrade ( a whole new
> computer rebuild) in perhaps 6 months? I suppose CD-R disks are the
> cheapest way my father and I can exchange data whether or not I do the
NTFS
> change?
>
> Sincerely -- Randy O.
>
>