When it comes to owning and operating a computer, maintenance is crucial. You have to understand how to handle certain tasks, how to perform regular maintenance and of course, how to handle errors. By backing up your computer you can greatly reduce your risk of losing information and in many cases even help to correct errors with your configuration by choosing to restore your computers settings from the backups that you create.
For most of us, there are at least some important documents, files or photos that would be devastating to lose. In the event of a system crash, a virus infection or malfunctioning hardware you are at risk of losing any information that is not backed up.
Why Should I Backup My Computer?
Just as mentioned above, backing up your computer will prevent any risk of lost information. Your hard drive has a life span of generally 3 to 5 years, so you can assume it will crash at some point and whatever you have on your hard drive that was not backed up will most likely be lost for good when that happens.
What Should I Back Up?
When backing up your system you should include internet bookmarks, emails, address books, data files from any software such as financial programs or tax programs in addition to the documents, media files such as photos, videos or music files and anything else that is stored on your computer that you do not want to lose.
How Do I Make A Backup?
There are various ways to back up your system; you can use a CD, flash drive or an online system. Online systems are recommended since they allow you to retrieve saved information from anywhere. CD’s can become lost or damaged, flash drives accidentally erased, but online systems are safe and secure and offer a way to get your information any time you need it.
How Often Should I Back Up My Files?
Depending on how often you add valuable documents or update them on your computer will determine how often you need to back up your files. If you rarely add new documents or update financial information then obviously you will not need to back up your system as frequently. Anytime you add something new to your hard drive that is valuable and would be upsetting if lost, back up your files. It only takes a few minutes to back up your files, so there is no need to avoid it.
Leave a Reply