Proper way to re-sync

When the databases get out of sync during replication, what is the best way to re-sync them on a Windows system? The only way I know of right now is to do it late at night, and pray that no one gets in while you're doing it. Stop the slave, do a backup (using MySQL Administrator, or mysqldump), note the log position on the master, restore the data on the slave, change the log position on the slave, then re-start the slave. Is this the best way to do it?

My issue has always been that I need the master MySQL running all the time. I might be able to stop it for a minute or two, and I'm sure that'll generate errors, but what can I do. But, in order to run a backup, it needs to be running. I've tried the "copy the physical files" thing, and that has never worked for me. Don't know why, but it doesn't.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jesse

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