The best way to retrieve your data after a computer crash is to save it all before anything catastrophic happens. A solid and redundant backup plan will ensure that you don’t lose a thing (or lose as little as possible) when your computer decides to kick the bucket. Here are some basic steps to keep your data safe.
*Note: Although this article outlines how to do your backups manually, there are also programs available that do to the majority of your backup activities automatically.
Things You’ll Need:
- Computer
- External hard drive (at least 100GB, more is always better)
- Several recordable CDs or DVDs
- CD/DVD folder or other media storage
- CD/DVD-safe permanent marker or labels
- An online storage account
Instructions
- Step 1
Pick a day of the week to perform your backup activities. Set aside about a half hour to back up your computer. - Step 2
Identify the data you want to back up. This may include work documents, photos, music and the like. - Step 3
Create a folder on your external storage device or hard drive and label it with the date and “Backup.” For example: “04152007Backup”. - Step 4
Copy all of the important folders you identified in Step 2 over to this folder on your external hard drive. - Step 5
Insert a recordable CD or DVD into your computer’s disk drive. - Step 6
Using your favorite disk-burning program, burn the folders you identified in Step 2 to the CDs or DVDs using the “Create Data Disk” or similar feature of your program. - Step 7
Label the CD or DVD with the date and “Backup” using a label or a CD/DVD-safe permanent marker (see Resources below) and store in your CD/DVD folder or other media storage. - Step 8
Sign up for your choice of online storage sites (see Resources). - Step 9
Back up all of the folders you identified in Step 2 to your online storage site. - Step 10
Repeat this process weekly.
Tips & Warnings
- The key is redundancy–making multiple copies of your backup and keeping them in different places. This way if one backup fails, you have at least one or two others that you can rely on.
- Most users will benefit from a weekly backup schedule. Power users may benefit from a more frequent schedule. This is where an automatic backup program will come in very handy.
- Your external storage device or hard drive may have come with “one-click backup” software. Learn it and use it.
- Online storage sites may have their own backup programs as well. Learn and use these too.
- If you have your own server space you can back up your files there as well.
- Music takes up a lot of space, so you may only want to back up the music you’ve purchased online and leave the ones you also have on CD out of the backup process.
