Backing Up Options - Don't trust External USB devices - well, not !00%
One of the most frequently asked questions we get is how do I back up my data. There are many ways to back up data. Not all of them are 100% foolproof. In fact, nothing is 100% foolproof. You must decide how important your data is and figure out a way to back it up regularly that works for you. Computer failure is iminent for everyone. Hardware fails. That is a fact. If your computer dies, it does not necessarily mean that you data is gone. Maybe your hard drive is still intact and the data retreivable. The thing to do is to plan for both. If you have data that is very important, copy it to a DVD or a CD - these are the most permanent forms of archiving data compared to other formats. Some people ask about USB External Drives or USB sticks. These are a good medium to use that is relatively safe and easy to use. However, they are not 100% reliable. The hard drive inside the USB External drive can fail like any other drive. Even a Solid State drive can fail, but not as likely. USB sticks can become unreadable. So, they are considered more like a " Safely Buffer Zone" until you can get your information backed up to CD or DVD. Another option is to back up to " Online Backup" servers free or paid ones are available. Just do a Google search for online backup, read the reviews and try something. The free online backup sites require that you log in at specified intervals or they will dump your data. Microsoft offers 25 Gigabytes of online storage called a "Sky Drive". That is a lot of free space. You just have to have a Hotmail account and then you get the free space available. As well, pictures can be uploaded for free to many picture sharing sites such as Kodak, Flickr or Google so there is no reason to lose pictures. The most common cause of losing your stuff is not taking the time regulary to back up.
You can purchase programs that will create backups and burn them to DVD's. We think these are the most reliable. Each DVD can be recovered individually and the program will only back up the new stuff. Acronis True Image and Genie Backup are 2 very good programs and easy for most people to learn. If you have a DVD burner, it will no doubt have come with software. Most programs like Roxio, Nero, Ashampoo and others have backup software built into the programs that is very easy to use. You select the option to backup, pick our folders and files and then it will do the rest. If more than 1 DVD is required, they will expand the data over several disks.
Many companies are offering very excellent free for "Home Use" software - versions of their paid programs that are very basic but provide excellent protection. Here are a few you can research. Just click on them to visit their websites.
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