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Take steps to back up files on computer
Techno Buddy
Bill Husted
When personal computing was young and exotic, making a backup copy of your files was a real chore.
Most ordinary folks used floppy disks. That required sitting in front of the computer to feed in the disks, like putting quarters in a slot machine.
The task was so boring that many decided it was too much trouble.
Nowadays, those excuses are gone. Plug in an external hard disk to your computer and the backup is done automatically. You can take a nap or use the computer for other tasks while the backup is being done. Given the ease of backups and their importance, I’m going to nag you today to make sure you make sure your computer’s hard disk is regularly backed up.
After all, if you use a hard disk long enough, it’s going to fail. Guaranteed.
So how do you make a backup copy?
You need two things: (1) a program to manage the backup and (2) a place to store the backup. For most home users, the external hard disk is a good answer. These disks are relatively inexpensive – $100 or so – and usually come with a program that manages the backup already installed on the disk.
There are options, however. For instance, in my home, an old computer on my network is used as the backup location for other machines in the house. That’s a good solution for me, but I’m guessing most of my readers would find using an external hard disk easier.
When it comes to programs to manage the backup, there are dozens of choices, and most of them are excellent. As I mentioned earlier, most external hard disks come with a built-in backup program. Windows Vista has a good one included. You’ll be fine using either the backup program included with Windows or the one that comes with the external hard disk you buy. I have had no problems at all using the program that comes with Windows.
I’ve also tested and liked the backup program that comes with Symantec’s Norton 360, a suite of programs that, besides the backup capabilities, will take care of anti-virus and anti-spyware work.
There are a few gotchas to keep in mind when it comes to backups. For one thing, if your computer is taken down by lightning and an external hard disk is connected at the time, both your hard disk and the backup may get fried.
One way around this: Use an online backup service such as Carbonite (www.carbonite.
com). You’ll pay about $55 a year for the service and have the security of knowing your backup is stored away from your home.
If you make your own backups, as I do, you need to be mindful that your backup copy could be damaged or corrupted. The backup program may crank faithfully away and offer no on-screen errors, all the while creating bad files. What an ugly surprise that can be.
Don’t wait for that to happen. Check out the backup you make by occasionally restoring a file or two from the backup, just to make sure it’s there and working. Some backup programs also can verify as it is created.
I promise it’s worth your time and money to keep your files backed up. Think for a moment about what you have to lose – tax records, family photos, e-mail contacts and even Aunt Emily’s spaghetti recipe.
Now that computers have become a robotic secretary for most of us, the information on your hard disk almost certainly is worth more than the price of your computer.
tecbud@bellsouth.net
Bill Husted writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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