Hate to admit my ignorance but: I don't know whether to backup every single file 360 shows, OR only to select personal files I don't want to lose--i.e. pictures, documents, perhaps emails?? Or do I also backup all the running programs? Where may I go to find instruction in this.
Hi Jorie.
Welcome to the Norton Community Forums. 
What to back up is a question that has troubled users since computing began. I don't think there is a correct answer. To me its more a case of what you are happy with and what works. You can backup everything but that is normally overkill and without a large and complex backup system is only going to give you a snapshot of your system at some time in the past.
In the case of the N360 backup, Norton have tried to simplify things for you. I assume that you have looked at the Backup option and possibly the "Manage Backup Sets". In which case you have probably come across the "What" tab. I think when you first look at this you will see "My Documents" ticked in the left hand pane. I cannot remember if all or any of the boxes on the right are ticked. I suspect that for the normal user ticking a selection of the boxes on the right will give them what they want. Ticking on any one of these boxes tells N360 to back up all files of that file type in the "My Documents" folder. So if you want to protect your photos then ensure that "Pictures" is ticked ..etc..
I would not bother to back up program files as in the event of a major failure you would probably need to re-install them from scratch and that probably needs to be done in the original way you installed them (e.g. a CD or a download) in order to ensure that the registry settings are correct.
How much you back up partly depends on how much space you have to store the backup, and how long you want to wait for it to complete. So if you have a large external drive for your backup and are happy to leave the machine to run overnight on its first backup then you can probably feel free to include all the boxes on the right. You can always see just how large the backup is likely to be by pressing the "Preview" button. N360 will then go of and work out exactly which files it would process and give you a reasonably good size estimate.
One last warning. When you select the options on the right of the "What" pane, Norton starts off with a default set of file endings that it thinks is associated with any category. If however you have any files with unusual extensions (e.g. some Open Office documents which end in .ods or .odt) then they may not be covered and you may need to manually add these the the list using the "Edit File Type" option at the top right. If in doubt you can always run your first backup and then look through to ensure that files that you think you might need are actually on it.
Did that help? Please feel free to come back for any clarification of any extra information.
THANK you Andmike for a very full, very clear explanation. I will go through your instructions and, if I have further problems will get back to you. But for now I believe you have answered my questions and I am most grateful for such a clear response.
I'm not sure how to click on "Accept as Solution" but I'll look further and try to do that.
"Guru" you ARE!!
I am glad it helped Jorie.
Good luck.
Hi Jorie.
Welcome to the Norton Community Forums.
What to back up is a question that has troubled users since computing began. I don't think there is a correct answer. To me its more a case of what you are happy with and what works. You can backup everything but that is normally overkill and without a large and complex backup system is only going to give you a snapshot of your system at some time in the past.
In the case of the N360 backup, Norton have tried to simplify things for you. I assume that you have looked at the Backup option and possibly the "Manage Backup Sets". In which case you have probably come across the "What" tab. I think when you first look at this you will see "My Documents" ticked in the left hand pane. I cannot remember if all or any of the boxes on the right are ticked. I suspect that for the normal user ticking a selection of the boxes on the right will give them what they want. Ticking on any one of these boxes tells N360 to back up all files of that file type in the "My Documents" folder. So if you want to protect your photos then ensure that "Pictures" is ticked ..etc..
I would not bother to back up program files as in the event of a major failure you would probably need to re-install them from scratch and that probably needs to be done in the original way you installed them (e.g. a CD or a download) in order to ensure that the registry settings are correct.
How much you back up partly depends on how much space you have to store the backup, and how long you want to wait for it to complete. So if you have a large external drive for your backup and are happy to leave the machine to run overnight on its first backup then you can probably feel free to include all the boxes on the right. You can always see just how large the backup is likely to be by pressing the "Preview" button. N360 will then go of and work out exactly which files it would process and give you a reasonably good size estimate.
One last warning. When you select the options on the right of the "What" pane, Norton starts off with a default set of file endings that it thinks is associated with any category. If however you have any files with unusual extensions (e.g. some Open Office documents which end in .ods or .odt) then they may not be covered and you may need to manually add these the the list using the "Edit File Type" option at the top right. If in doubt you can always run your first backup and then look through to ensure that files that you think you might need are actually on it.
Did that help? Please feel free to come back for any clarification of any extra information.
THANK you Andmike for a very full, very clear explanation. I will go through your instructions and, if I have further problems will get back to you. But for now I believe you have answered my questions and I am most grateful for such a clear response.
I'm not sure how to click on "Accept as Solution" but I'll look further and try to do that.
"Guru" you ARE!!
I am glad it helped Jorie.
Good luck.