Having worked in the IT industry for many years, I am very aware of the importance of backing up valuable computer data. Why do we need to do it? Obviously there are the ultimate threats such as fire and theft, and whilst these things may never happen to someone, it is reasonable to say that for anyone working regularly with computers, it is almost inevitable that loss of data will occur at some point due to computer problems (e.g. viruses, hard drive crashes, human error). Over the years we have seen tragic cases such as families losing years of work or schoolchildren losing whole GCSE projects, simply because their data was not properly backed up.
For a fuller discussion please see my blog post Why Back Up Your Data.
You may find the prospect of setting up a backup system quite daunting, but that is where I am there to help. There various factors to consider:-
- What information do you need to back up? As well as your main “My Documents” folder, there are other things to consider such as your e-mail messages and e-mail address book. It may not always be obvious where these things are actually stored on your computer.
- What quantity information do you need to back up? This will determine for example what storage media you are going to use.
- Have you anywhere to keep an off-site copy of your data? (Highly recommended)
If you are overwhelmed by the prospect of having to back up your data and would like to discuss matters further, please come and talk to me and we will look for the best solution for your own particular needs.