Next GGCS General Meeting:
July 26, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Plus Special "Pre-meeting" at 5:30 pm

Embassy Suites Hotel (Larkspur Room)
101 McInnis Parkway, San Rafael

Click here for directions.
Open to the public – admission and parking are free

GGCS Welcomes Gene Barlow
Drive Backup with Acronis True Image 2010
Beyond the Basics at 7:15 pm
The Basics at 5:30 pm

Gene has spoken several times before about backing up your computer and the concept of imaging your hard drive.  Tonight's presentation is for people who are familiar with his regular talk and want to learn more than he normally covers.  He will address some of the issues that typically come up, and how people can use Acronis TrueImage more effectively.  The emphasis will be on restoring your operating system and/or your data with confidence.  There will be lots of time for questions.

For people wanting to hear his "basics" talk again or for the first time, Gene will be doing his regular presentation to user groups on Acronis TrueImage 2010 just before the general meeting at 5:30 pm in place of John King's Introduction to Computers class.  Anyone not familiar with the TrueImage product should attend that meeting (see announcement below).  Both meetings will be done in a live webinar format which has worked very well in the past.

The general meeting ("Beyond the Basics") will focus on:

• Factors that make an excellent backup system

• Why Image backup is vastly superior to file backup approaches

• Benefits of doing both image backups and file backup approaches

• Incremental backup versus differential backup approaches

• Need for both a local backup drive and a remote backup drive

• Using partitions to improve on your backup system

• Using Windows System Restores with backup system

• Restoring recent files from crashed hard drive

• Various options to creating a rescue device

• Is the True Image Plus Pack for you?

Special Pre-General Meeting
July 26, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Backing up Your Computer with Acronis True Image 2010
(John King's Introduction to Computers class will not be held this month)

This will be Gene's normal user group talk on image backups, and is similar to the ones he's done in the past but updated for the new features of True Image 2010.  It is open to people who have not heard his talk before as well as those who would like a refresher.

Make sure you are adequately protected and can recover from any unforeseen events such as viruses, unstable software downloads, and hard drive failures by having a well thought-out backup plan.  Gene will not only demonstrate the software but will also show an overall plan for best using it.  Having a good backup system is essential in order to put your system back together again in a few minutes, not days or weeks.  This is an important topic that every PC User should implement on their computer.  Topics will include:

• The importance of doing backups for all end users

• The Backup/Restore stages of a backup system

• What is the best hardware device to backup to

• What is the best software type to use for backups

• Why a full/Incremental backup approach is best

• How Frequently should you do backups

• How to restore your system to an empty hard drive

• How to restore individual files without doing a full restore

Refresh your backup knowledge, learn more about True Image and save money! There will be an opportunity to buy it at a discount during the meeting.

About the Meeting:

Our general meetings offer a friendly forum for people interested in computers at all user levels, from novice to expert.

Before the General Meeting, between 6:00 and 7:00 PM in the Petaluma Room, just down the hall from the main meeting room, there is a free Introduction to Computing Class. Ask at the reception table outside the meeting room for directions.

Hungry? Have dinner before the meeting in the Grille 101 Restaurant, at the north end of the building.

From 6:30 to 7:00 PM Door Prize raffle tickets are given out to members, memberships are renewed, etc. You can stand around talking to people who know lots and lots about computers.

The meeting usually follows this schedule:

• 7:15 pm – Announcements, followed by an open session during which members and guests can ask the group for help or opinions.

• 7:30 pm – Main presentation.  Click here for a list of prior speakers.

• 9:00 pm – Closing with a raffle of various hardware, software and books.  There are often quite a few items from which to choose. Each member gets a free raffle ticket, both members and non-members may purchase additional raffle tickets.

Future meetings:  Our general meetings are normally on the fourth Monday of the month.  There is no meeting in December.  The May meeting is sometimes a week earlier or later than normal when necessary to avoid Memorial Day.

Copyright © 2010 Golden Gate Computer Society. All rights reserved.   Last updated: Jun 30, 2010