Backing up your computer.
One of the most common issues we have here at the store is customers who never back up their data. Never assume your data will remain safe in your system and always be accessible! Computers catch viruses, hard drives wear out, and sometimes they take physical damage. No less than a couple times a month we run into people who have a dead computer and need us to extract the data. While we can often do this, the process can be lengthy and expensive. Having your data in two or three places is always a good idea and will cost you a lot less money and stress in the long run. I have listed some of the most common methods to backup your data below; please make sure you’re performing at least one or two of them.

1) External or Secondary Hard Drive
Pros:
- Relatively inexpensive in the long run
- Easy to move data back and forth from computer to external drive
- Large amount of storage space available, often times more than you can store within your computer
- Some drives come with software which can automate the process for you and run it when you are away from the computer
- Can perform “image” backups, which are exact copies of how your computer looks right now

Cons:
- External drives still susceptible to failure such as impact/water/fire damage since they are technically hard drives
- Without software automating the process, the system relies on the user to make sure he backups consistently
- Must replace every few years

2) Flash Drives or Jump Drives
Pros:
- Easy to work with, simply plug in and copy data over
- Cheap, can grab them just about anywhere
- Drives are getting increasingly larger offering more space on such a small medium
- Easily transportable, many can be put on your keychain
Cons:
- If the drive fails, it is almost impossible to recover the data
- Easier to damage due to size and forgetfulness of user
- In a similar vein, they are also easier to lose due to their size
- Generally no software for automation of backup comes with them, the backup process is reliant on the user

3) Using Email as a backup
Pros:
- Cheap, essentially no cost since most email clients offer unlimited storage space
- Accessible anywhere and off different computers as long as you can access your email client
- Relatively simple to do since most users already know how to attach a file to an email
Cons:
- File size is constrained due to email file attachment limitations
- Process can be lengthy for backup as you generally can only attach a couple files at a time and have to keep emailing yourself dummy emails with attachments
- Requires computer with internet connection to recover data, and depending on the connection speed and number of files you have, could take a long time

4) Burning data to DVD/CD
Pros:
- Cheap
- Can store a decent amount of data on a standard DVD (4.7 GB)
- Media lasts a while, once it’s burned it may be good for over 10 years
Cons:
- Process for burning can be confusing for certain customers; may require specific burning software
- Large volumes of data (40+GB) will take awhile to backup due to the size constraints of the DVD’s and the length of the burning process
- Relies on the user to consistently burn backups
- Smaller netbooks and tablets generally do not have a disc drive

5) Online Storage Solutions
Pros:
- Relatively cheap, oftentimes free up to a certain point (5-10 GB)
- Process can be automated, merely relies on your internet connection
- Once your data is backed up, it is put in the “cloud”, and essentially will never be lost
- Many reputable companies out to choose from with online storage solutions such as: Carbonite, Copy, & Dropbox
Cons:
- Can take awhile to backup depending upon internet connection speed
- Pulling data down on a different system may require the user to install the storage software on the machine
- If the user has a large amount of data to backup, they will be charged a monthly fee based on that amount of data

If you haven’t backed up your data in a while, please consider one or two of the methods above. It’s best to use multiple methods for backup to ensure that you will never lose your important data. If you have questions or want us to help set up your backup solution let us know!