Back up your data before it’s too late

Having a backup plan is a good idea these days — whether it’s for your finances, your career or just how you’ll get to work if the car breaks down.

A backup plan is a good idea in your high-tech life, too. Today’s computers store mountains of information — from treasured family photos and writing journals to financial records — that would be impossible or very painful to replace in the event of a hard-drive meltdown.

TECHNOBUDDY

E-mail Bill Husted

Related:
• Bill's computer tips
• More Business news

More Technobuddy

• When repairs are in order, replacing may be cheaper 
• Shocks, dirt, heat, impact can all kill your computer 
• 10 secrets that'll make you a computer genius 
• Got an old computer? Use it for spare parts 
• Some PC fixes don't require special skills 

Having lost some photos myself, I know of what I speak. So today I’ll try to spare you the pain with a quick overview of options for backing up all that data.

One of the easiest is buying an external hard drive. Today’s models are large and affordable, and most come with backup programs preinstalled. Just plug the disk into a USB port and the program offers to install itself on your computer.

But, Bill, you may ask, what if a lightning strike or house fire or some other calamity takes out both the computer and the external drive?

If the risk of that bothers you — or, more likely, if you just don’t want to fool with another piece of hardware — consider an online backup service. Outfits such as Carbonite (www.carbonite.com) offer unlimited storage for $50 a year. Try the service free for a couple of weeks.

In addition to storing your data in a remote location, most online firms themselves have backups. So you get an extra level of protection.

Whatever method you choose, keep in mind that some of your data is so vital it should be stored in multiple places. If you decide against using an online service, it’s a good idea to make CDs or DVDs of at least some of your data, such as pictures and journals, and store them away from your home. The office, a relative’s home or even a safety deposit box are all options.

I know, that sounds like a lot of trouble. But the digital age has changed so many rules. Financial records once were kept in file folders and ledgers. Family photos often could be replaced from a negative. Nowadays, the digital genie has offered convenience but also brought new dangers.

A proper backup plan doesn’t stop with the data itself.

Make sure you store all the installation discs for your programs in one place. The programs on your computer will not be part of your data backup. While software exists that promises to back up your programs, too, I’ve found them to be clunky, hard to use and not nearly as efficient as simply reinstalling your programs from the discs. So making sure you have your original program disks on hand is a no-brainer.

You’ll often need activation codes to install those programs. Software makers want to protect themselves against people giving programs to friends, so it is close to impossible to install some programs without them. If you have the codes, write them on the disc (preferably with a pen made for that task) or on paper.

If you are missing codes, a nifty little program called Belarc Advisor can help. It’s free and can be downloaded at www.belarc.com. Run the program and then print a paper copy.

Now your backup plan is pretty complete. Here’s hoping you never need it.