Photo by Oskay
If you ask me what is the worst thing that can happen to you and your computer, my answer is losing all your data. Just imagine all your banking, taxes, personal files, music, photos – everything being lost in just one disastrous moment. Sounds scary! The answer is pretty simple – backup your files regularly.
In this post I’m going to share with you 5 ways to backup your data. Choose the ones that you like best.
1. Use a USB Thumb Drive
Everyone uses USB flash drives. They are small, extremely easy to use, and inexpensive. They are excellent for backing up your most important files. However, if you want to backup a lot of data and need more space, an external hard drive is a better option.
2. Get an External Hard Drive
An external hard drive is a great storage solution, that has enough room for all your stuff. And it’s pretty small, too, so you can take it with you when you’re travelling. Also an external hard drive is very easy to use – simply connect it to your computer using a USB cable and drag and drop your files.
3. Online Storage
In my opinion, two major advantages of online storage are a) being able to access them from any computer with Internet connection and b) protection from any local harm, including theft, floods, fires, etc. There are many free services, including Windows Live SkyDrive.
4. Backup Your Files Automatically
An interesting backup solution is offered by Clickfree – automatic backup. Basically, all you have to do is insert their DVD/plug in their external hard drive or thumb drive and it will automatically find your important files and save them.
5. Get an UPS
Right, this is not really a backup method, but an Uninterruptible Power Supply can save your files. Did you know that a lot of data loss happens because of power cuts and power surges? An UPS will protect you from that. And most of them come with special software that securely shuts down your computer in case of power cut, thus ensuring that it won’t be harmed in any way.
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At a minimum, if you have a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive, back up your most important files to optical media. Things like pictures, financials, .DOC files, MP3’s, etc. You can always reinstall the OS and applications, but these data files will be lost forever if your hard drive crashes.
Many years ago I had an experience of losing several years worth of financial data, which had to be painstakingly restored. I came up with a bulletproof solution:
1. Partition your hard drive and put ALL your data on drive D: (or whatever your partition is)
2. Move My Documents to this data partition. Windows has instructions for doing this.
3. Get an external hard drive, USB or Firewire.
4. Set up a Data backup partition on your external drive.
5. Get a folder synchronizer program (I use PowerDesk Pro) and synchronize your on board data with your external drive several times a day.
6. I have even directed Outlook and Outlook Express to store their data on my data partition.
Every so often copy your Documents and Settings folder to the external drive to save setups, passwords, bookmarks, templates, etc.
BTW, try Acronis True Image for keeping your operating system backed up. It has been a lifesaver for me.
@Allen Hart Thanks for your tips! I agree, you should have all your data either on a different partition or on a second hard drive.
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