I have been in the IT field for over 10 years now and if I had a nickel for every time I have had a user lose their data because they didn't backup their data.  Most computer users don't know to back up their data and take their files for granted without ever thinking what if something happens to my hard drive? What if my computer is stolen or gets stuck by lightning or in a flood?

     Don't be intimated when it comes to backing up your data, it is very easy too!  If your using Windows XP you can even us the built in windows backup software (not the best in the world but it does a good job) or other free software solutions to backup your Documents, Pictures, & more.  You can also purchase external hard drives that even have a one touch backup or scheduled software backup as long as your computer is on.  I am going to show you a few options and first I’ll start with hardware.

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Always remember it is a good rule of thumb to purchase a hard drive at least the same size as the installed in your computer or better, If you plan on storing all the pictures/documents/music on the external drive don’t forget to back that up, remember it’s just another hard drive which can fail…..

Example of an external hard drive:

1.      Maxtor One Touch – For consumers who need a simple solution with a classic design for Mac or PC, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 makes it easier to set up and manage data backup, file archiving and system settings with a new easy-to-use user interface. (Note: Seagate and Maxtor are one company now so a Seagate drive is good also)

Always remember when shopping online for an external hard drive to read the reviews on the item, just because it’s a cheap 750 gig doesn’t mean it’s a good company!

Now if you already own a external hard drive and it is not one of the one touch backup type drives you can use 3rd party free utilities to backup your data, here are my reccomendations:

1.      Windows Backup – Located under start/programs/accessories/system tools.  (Click here for a guided tutorial on how to use windows backup)
2.      Corbin Backup – Cobian Backup is a multi-threaded program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other    directories/drives in the same computer or other computer in your network. FTP backup is also supported in both directions (download and upload).
3.       FBackup – FBackup is a free backup software for both personal and commercial use. It protects your important data by backing it up automatically to any USB/Firewire device, local or network location. The backed up data can be either compressed (using standard zip compression) or an exact copy of the original files.

Tags: Backing, Computer Maintance, Data, Hard Drive Backup, Importance