How to backup to your PC in the network folder

Backup one computer to another over a local area network invites provides a reasonable degree of security. It also saves you money because you don't have to buy an external drive or a subscription to the service backup cloud.

But this is not an ideal solution. Attacker can steal more than one computer, and fires can destroy all of them. Another option is to store all the relevant data on a single computer and access it on others. You'll still have to back up a single computer, of course.

In any case, you will need a folder on the other computers can not only access but at least one computer. Here is one simple way to set this up (there are many):

Windows 7 and Vista: , right-click the folder you want to share, and then click Properties. Click the sharing tab, and then click Advanced sharing. Scan folder. Click permissions. Check out the full access, change and read permissions in the Allow column.

XP: , right-click the folder you want to share, and then click Properties. On the sharing tab share, you should check this folder on the network, and then allow network users to change my files.

Now you can backup directly from one computer to a shared folder on another. Just about any backup program, you should be able to deal with this.

Another approach is to store all your documents (and possibly your music, photos, etc.) on a single computer. Once again, this implies a shared folder, you can write other people.

You can store all your documents on one computer by simply remember to create and save files in the network folder. But if you do not trust your memory (or your ability to create new habits), you can tell Windows to use this remote location in the My Documents folder.

Yes, it works. But this proposal comes with serious caution. If the computer is turned off or otherwise unavailable, when you are using your, you're going to have problems.

If you want to go forward, here's how to install it:

Vista, Windows 7: , click Start, and then login at the top of the start menu in the right column. Right-click the documents or my documents, and then click Properties. On the Layout tab, click move, and select the destination network.

XP: then click Start, right-click my documents, and then click Properties. On the target tab, click move, and select the destination network.

You can also consider the possibility of file synchronization through a Web service like Dropbox. This eliminates the problem off to yet another level of backup.

My thanks to smax013, who provided some of the extensive proposals during the initial discussion forum.

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