The weakest link in any backup program has always been the diligence of the human being. For the average home computer user, backup is not something they look forward to doing, and it does take some effort. We have already seen that by focusing on a few critical directories and files, and writing a batch file, you can make the whole job a lot easier. You could just leave that batch file icon on the desktop, and you would probably remember from time to time to run the batch file, which is probably more than you are doing now. But you can do even more by using Task Scheduler, which is conveniently free.
Microsoft first added a version of this, called System Agent, to the Plus! pack for Windows 95. This then became Task Scheduler, and was incorporated into Internet Explorer and Windows 98/2000. You may already have this program on your system right now and not even know it. In Windows 98/2000, look in Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks. If you have Windows 95, and have IE 4.x or above, just open up your Control Panel, Add/Remove programs, and select IE. When you do, a window will open up where you can select adding a new component. If you select this, you will be taken to a Web site. Let the script run to first identify the components you already have, and when it is done it will give you a list of the things you can add. Go to Additional Explorer Enhancements, and you will see Task Scheduler listed. Put a check in the box, click next, and download and install it. If you want a little more help on doing this, check out
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q171/2/29.ASP
After you have installed it, you will need to reboot Windows. After you do this, you will see Scheduled Tasks appear in the Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/ folder, just as for Windows 98/2000 above.
When you open the Scheduled Tasks folder, you should see an option to Add Scheduled Task. If you double-click this, it will bring up the Add Scheduled Task Wizard. This will bring up a list of programs that you can set to run at a specific time, but that is not what we want to do here. Instead, click the Browse button. Go to the Desktop, find your Batch File, and select it. You then get to name the task (Backup), and select when it runs. I find it easiest to let it run at night while I am asleep, but then I leave my computer on all of the time. If that doesn't work for you, select some other time that is convenient for you and when you know the computer will be on, such as during lunch. If none of those work for you, you can set it to run whenever you boot the computer. How long this will slow you down depends on how much you are backing up. My backup batch file, which does two backups to different places, takes about 10 minutes to run on my machine. Note that you can Edit a scheduled task at any time to change the time, frequency, etc. of your scheduled task.
So, with a Scheduled Task set up, running a simple batch file, you can have a great deal of protection for your most important files without having to do any work at all (after the initial setup) and without having to remember to do anything. For all the people who say "I know I ought to do a backup, but I am always so busy," this method is simple and effective.