Ubuntu installs - best way to backup files

[Michael V. De Palatis]

On Fri, Apr 28, 2006 at 06:08:49PM +0100, Sean Hammond wrote:
> I do a lot of ubuntu installs for non-computer-people who usually have
> laptops with Windows on them. Although the Ubuntu installation process
> is pretty simple and can easily be explained to people, I find a major
> sticking point is always the files they already have on their
> computers.
> 
> I find dual-boot is often awkward and problematic, so I prefer to wipe
> the Windows partition. But these kind of users are never capable of
> backing up their files on their own beforehand.

A couple of points here. If someone is uncapable of backing up their
own files, is Linux really the best choice for them? I know Ubuntu is
generally far easier to use than most other linux distros, but it's
still not completely there yet in terms of usability by the general
public (this is really more of a driver issue than anything else, and
is unfortunately largely out of Ubuntu's hands since it will take
manufacturers writing drivers to fix this).

That said, why are they "never capable" of backing up their files?
Sure, you should probably still do it for them just in case, but what
makes them uncapable?

> What is the easiest way to either advise people on how to backup their
> files or back them up for them on the day of the install? What is the
> best thing to use as backup media?

If this is to be a temporary backup, then CD/DVD-R's are
acceptable. The only thing that makes this problematic is if they
happen to have a whole lot of music and/or videos that they want to
keep, in which case you're going to need an external hard drive to do
it.

My advice: You should always advise them to make backups of the data
they want to keep first, but you should probably backup their backups
(i.e., do another backup before installing for them) just in case. You
are right about one thing: Most people don't really backup
correctly. They may THINK they've gotten everything they want to keep,
but that's likely not true.

Unfortunately, I don't really know of any software that would help
automate this for you or anything, but there likely is some Windows
software that you could find on Sourceforge that will accomplish this.

Mike