Determine how much space you need.
The first step in backing up your hard drive is to figure out how much space you will need to back up all of your files.
You can do this in a couple of ways.
Find out how large the hard drive is on your computer first to see if you can back up the whole thing. Click on "My Computer," right-click the "C" drive and select "Properties."
This shows the approximate size of your hard drive, how much space is actually taken, plus the space used by your operating system.
If your hard drive size is manageable (the space actually taken), back up the whole thing.
Your second option is to create a file called "Backup" and copy all of your important files into it.
Right-click on the folder once everything is copied over and choose "Properties" to find out the size of the folder.
This is how much space you will need to back up your important files only.
Choose a backup method.
Choose either an external hard drive, data disks (CDs, for example) or use an online backup service.
Plug the flash drive or the External Hard drive into your computer's rectangular-shaped USB drive.
Wait for Windows to recognize the system.
Windows operating systems use "plug and play" technology, which means that computer peripherals like USB flash drives can be recognized instantly by the system without further need for device configuration.
Open the drive on your computer.
Open the "My Computer" directory if using Windows XP or the "Computer" directory if using
Windows 7 or Vista. Locate the flash drive letter and icon under the section named "Devices with Removable Storage." Double-click the flash drive icon to open it.
Transfer files to the flash drive.
Click the "Restore" button in the top-right corner of the "Computer" or "My Computer" directory to shrink the window so that you can view your computer's desktop background.
Open the folders or locations of the files which you want to save to the flash drive.
Click and drag with your mouse each of the files and folders you want to save to the flash drive over to the empty space in the "My Computer" or "Computer" window.
Release the mouse button to let the files "drop."
Close the windows and directory locations when finished.
Save files directly onto the flash drive. From an open file (i.e. text, spreadsheet, image files. etc.), click the "File" menu and "Save as" option.
Select the "My Computer" or "Computer" directory in the drop-down menu at the top of the "Save As" box. Double-click the flash drive letter under the "Devices with Removable Storage" section.
Click the "Save" button to save the file onto the flash drive.
Close the windows and files when finished
Hope this helps.
you have to be the computers administrator to change any values on any computer hardware and you must fall full control of your hard drives
click start control panel user accounts on the users tab click the name of the computer administrator you must have full control
click start control panel user accounts on the users tab click the name of the computer administrator you must have full control
click start click to open on my computer you should see your usb drive could be E: or something right click select properties there will be an array of options
select the sharing tab option then advanced sharing make sure you have a tick in the share this folder box
then click permissions make sure you have all 3 boxes ticked full control changes and read in windows 7
If you are running a Windows XP OS then you might be able to: click start right click on my computer select openRight click the icon of your Flash Drive (It should be F:/ or something) Click Properties in the menu that comes up Click the Sharing tab Click permissions And finally, click Allow next to Full Control.
hope this helps
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