Backing up your computer
Computers have become so commonplace, we often take them for granted. We use them to communicate at work, to friends and family, and even for entertainment purposes. But, we forget that they may contain important documents and files that need to be backed up. If you have ever lost an important document or precious photo because of a computer crash, you know how important backing up your computer can be.
Some people think that backups are only for computer geeks and nerds, but backups are important to everyone that owns a computer. Even if you have never had a problem with your computer, you still need to perform routine backups. A virus can attack your computer at any time and you can lose valuable information. You can even accidentally delete a file or it can become corrupted and if you do not have a backup, it is lost forever.
If one day, your hard drive is destroyed beyond repair, one of two things can happen. You can purchase a new hard drive for your computer, but it will be blank, except for maybe the system software. You will either suffer a great loss of everything – files, software, photos, music, etc. – you had on your computer. Or, if you were diligent in making backups, you will only have to reinstall everything from CDs or DVDs. While restoring everything is a slight annoyance, losing everything can be devastating.Viruses and user error is not the only way computer files and programs can be lost. Although few people think about it, data can be lost through fires and floods. Your computer can be hit be a power surge that kills the hard drive or your child could accidentally hit the wrong key on the keyboard. When you really think about it, your data is much more vulnerable than originally thought.
The only way to get your information back if it is lost through any means is to have a backup, so you can restore the files and programs.
You may have so many things on your computer; you are not sure what to back up. Don’t let that stop you from doing it! The most important things to back up are the things that are most important to you. In the case of a businessperson, it may be important office files or their contact email addresses. In the case of a home computer user, it may be valuable family photos downloaded on the computer. That is the stuff that should be backed up at the bare minimum. Software should be backed up if you have downloaded it from the Internet. If you purchased the CDs, you may want to make a backup of those CDs in case they become corrupted.
The easiest way to do a backup is to purchase backup software that comes with the operating system. Windows offers a free backup program as does Linux, Macintosh, and other operating systems. This easy to use software makes backing up a snap as you merely select folders to back up. You can even set backups to be performed at scheduled times that are convenient for you.
There is also software that will backup files if they have been changed since a certain date or since the last backup. There is often a search option that allows you to tell the software to backup files newer than a certain date.
Emails pose a more difficult task for backups, but you can often keep copies of your email on the mail server as opposed to your computer. And if you have something important in email that you can download, back it up along with your other important files.
You can store your backups on CDs, DVDs, removable hard drives, or keychain thumbnail drives that are easy to remove and carry with you. Even floppy disks can still be used if you have a floppy drive.
While daily backups will be just one more task to add to your busy schedule, you will be very thankful you took the time if you ever need to restore a vital file.