Have you ever had your computer lose something important? If you’re like most of us, your answer to that question is an emphatic yes. My computers have lost more work of mine than I could ever lose on my own.
You’ve got to remember, computers are machines, electronic machines, but still machines. As machines, they break every once in a while. For you, as a computer user, the most tragic breakdown of your computer is the loss of your hard drive. When that happens, you lose everything you’ve ever saved on that computer; all your pictures, everything you’ve written, even your personal phone book.
The way to protect yourself from losing all that information is to back up your computer regularly. What does that mean? It means to make a copy of all your data (information, not programs or applications) somewhere else.
The easiest way to do a backup is if you are on a local network. If so, you can back-up your computer’s data onto another computer that’s part of the same network. Another option is to use one of the online data backup services. They allow you to store your computer’s data on their computer, for a small monthly fee. Finally, you can do it the old fashioned way, and backup your data onto CDs.
However you ultimately decide to do your backups, make sure that you form the habit of doing it regularly. A backup that’s six months old probably isn’t going to do you much good. Your backup needs to be as recent as you can get it; if not in the last week, at least in the last month.