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Backing Up Your Computer Files for Digital Security

March 9, 2009

The strategy of protecting your computer’s critical data goes beyond installing and passively running virus detection programs, spyware protection and options that identify email spam.

While using your computer, you might not routinely think about what can happen if you lose all your data or programs, but unfortunately such ugly incidents do occur.

This is why it is vital that you back up your computer on a regular basis. That way if you lose your data, you can recover it from the storage media you used for the backup without losing much – if any – of your critical information.

Protecting Your Important Data

By backing up data such as important programs you use frequently, business documents and other files, personal information such as passwords and your favorite web sites along with various folders, you are saving the information just in case you need it later.

The most convenient way to store this information from your computer is to use the backup option that usually comes with your operating system.

Backup Media Options

Many people store their data on CD’s, but those media hold limited amounts of data and may not be able to store everything you need. There are more options that retain larger amounts of information, such as removable media, external hard disk drives, and network drives.

If you back up your data to your internal hard disk, you need to store the information on a separate partition on that drive in case one is damaged. Frequently, computers are configured with both a C and D drive, and most people use the C drive to hold all their day-to-day information. Thus in this scenario, the backup of that data would be stored on the D drive for recovery purposes.

The Inexpensive Flash Drive

Removable media – often called a flash drive – is a popular choice as well. Typically, it can hold one gigabyte of information, while more expensive ones store even more data. Prices for this backup option continue to fall, so it is increasingly appealing for its convenience and for the retention of smaller amounts of data.

To use it, simply attach the flash drive to one of the computer’s USB ports, back up your data, and pop it out afterward. Then to use its stored data later, place it into the USB port of either another computer or back in the original for data recovery.

Using a network drive is an option if it has sufficient disk space available. This could be your network drive or space that you “rent” from a third party provider.

What Data to Store

You are always limited by the amount of free space on a drive, so if you have a lot of data on your computer, you will need to be selective of the specific data you opt to store elsewhere.

Finally, there are different types of backups that you can perform depending on your needs. You can back up all your files, some of them, or only the files you have recently added or made changes to since your most recent backup.

Depending whether you use your computer for personal or business needs, you should weigh the pros and cons of each backup option against cost and your time constraints.

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