We live in the age of computers and information technology. Almost everything these days is done with the help of a computer: writing letters, sharing pictures and documents, doing homework, filing taxes, and so much more. While using computers can certainly speed up our work, it also makes us more prone to data loss and a host of other new problems.
When all your important information is stored in only one virtual location, a computer crash can be enough to cause serious damage to your work, your finances, maybe even your entire life. Admittedly, the computers today are considerably more reliable than they were a couple of decades ago but the risk of data loss remains. This is precisely the reason you should make a habit out of backing up your computer data, especially the important ones. The good news is that there are several tools you can use to create proper backups: flash disks, DVDs, external hard drives, online storage, and so on. There really is no excuse for not having a backup of your computer data.
Do a Backup of Your Data Regularly
Most people already know that backing up data is extremely important but few realize that it has to be done not only once or twice, but frequently. This is particularly true if you use the computer a lot for work or personal reasons. Ideally, you should do a backup your most important files at the end of each day. This way, you won’t have to worry about losing your photos, articles, music, and other files in case something happens to your computer or your hard drive.
Use Online Backup Services
Consider using online backup services such as iDrive, MozyHome, Carbonite, and CrashPlan. iDrive and MozyHome have a free plan and you can store up to 5GB and 2GB of data, respectively. Carbonite and CrashPlan both offer free trials. For about $55 a year, Carbonite provides unlimited online data storage. For less than $25 a year, CrashPlan provides up to 10GB of online data storage.
Perform a Complete Hard Drive Backup
This is your best protection in case of a computer crash or disk failure. It’s not a good feeling to see all your hard work gone in just a flash. Even if you have to spend money on an extra hard drive and backup software like Acronis, make the purchase because they are worthy investments. They will make your life so much easier. The recommended frequency of doing a complete hard drive backup is once a week. However, if you are very busy (it can take hours to back up an entire hard drive), you can do it monthly.
Frequently Save Your Work
Save your work as you go along. Have you ever experienced a power failure right in the middle of typing your term paper or an important report for work? This can be very frustrating, especially when you are almost finished when the power goes out, leaving you no choice but to start all over again. Save yourself the trouble and stress by making it a habit to click on the save button or pressing CTRL-S every now and then, perhaps at the end of each paragraph, or whenever you finish a page. Before long, clicking on the save button or pressing CTRL-S will become second nature to you and you won’t even notice that you are doing it. You can also configure your word processor to auto-save your work every minute or two.
About the Author: Rob Boirun maintains the website www.burnworld.com which is a tech site around DVD, Blu-Ray Burning and Video Converting.
Thanks for this post. It’s so important to back up and I have seen colleagues go through chaos due to software glitches or viruses that result in lost work or (even worse) the need to replace a laptop. I’ve been using Mozy but this post makes me think that I should do a hard drive back up as well!
The help of a competent lawyer is really valuable these days.
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