6 Steps to Ensuring Your Important Files are Backed Up

When it comes to securing your data, you shouldn't wait until the recovery phase to do something about it. The cold, hard and concrete fact is that all hard drives inevitably fail from internal mechanical failure, given enough time.

It's also a fact that data, once the hard drive begins to fail, can't always be completely recovered in the state it was before your hard drive crashed. To keep your files safe, you need to form some sort of plan to back up your files before worse comes to worst.

1. Plan For What You Need to Back Up

You can't, and probably shouldn't, back up everything on your hard drive. You need to figure out what's important to you while figuring out how much space you'll need to back it up.

2. Reorganize Your Files

If you have to, spend some time reorganizing your files on your computer. Place your most important photos, music, pictures and other files in an accessible folder on your hard drive.

The ideal folder to keep your files in will be one you can keep a shortcut to on your desktop. This will allow you to drag and drop the files you need to back up.

In the long run, this will make backing up your files easier.

3. Locate Your Program Setup Executables

If you have programs that need to be back up, then make sure you have the license keys and installers stored somewhere readily accessible. You can't rely on making a backup of the installed program, because installers usually have sensitive settings that need to be set up before the program can run properly.

If you have settings that you want to save, you can usually back those up. You will need to do some research, but a large number of programs keep their settings in either the registry or the Windows “AppData” folder.

4. Figure Out a Backup Medium

There are a large number of ways that you can back up your data. There are offline storage mediums, such as rewritable DVD discs and portable hard drives, and there are online backups, such as with cloud storage and FTP servers.

The main advantage of offline backups is that you can access them anytime you need. You don't have to worry about a service being overloaded with other people trying to restore their backups. The problem is that physical copies are prone to being lost or destroyed, which is something that tends to happen if a natural disaster occurs.

The main advantage of online storage is that you don't have to worry about it. Someone else has your data securely backed up. There is a chance that this can also pose a security risk if your entrust a company that isn't too secure.

5. Back It Up 3 Different Ways

In the event that your favorite online backup place goes down or their servers catch on fire, you're going to be up a creek without a paddle if that is your only backup. To be safe, it's recommended that you keep three different copies of your data elsewhere. For all practical purposes, usually two offline copy and one online copy will work.

6. Backup Every Three Days

While you should make a backup of your important files when you change them, the rest can usually be updated every three days.

“Three days” is just the recommended period. You can change it to every day, every other day, every week or even every month. The important part is that you get into a routine of backing up your data.

Heather Yates

About the Guest Author:

This post was provided by Heather Yates, a computer expert. She recommends Nerds in a Flash for their speedy Houston computer repair services. They are located at Downtown San Antonio, TX United States‎ +1 210-657-6373.