Backed up?
You are, you say? Really? Well congratulations, then! If you are even talking about your personal self, and not your work, then you've got an even better reason to give your selv a pat on the back. I assume you have also double checked all your insurances and updated your will? Just kidding. You are an example to be followed.
Surveys show that many businesses, especially small and midsize ones, have poor backup routines for their computer systems. But at least they are usually aware they have a problem, which is a good start if nothing more. Privately, however, most of us walk the slack line without a net - unless we have already experienced falling off and eating dirt. Some even need to do this a couple of times. Bless them, because the meek shall inherit my external hard disk, once I have outgrown it yet again.
Some fool themselves into thinking they have nothing to lose. Reading this, it is likely you are not one of them. But if you are, do yourself the favor of spending ten minutes looking at the contents of your hard disk. You are likely to find letters, spreadsheets, presentations, music, bookmarks - not to mention email. Maybe some personal videos too (or other people's personal videos, come to that). And with digital photography becoming so popular, you may have stored any number of photos; memories frozen in time that if they are lost are apt to be lost forever.
Any number of bad things can happen to a hard disk. Fire, theft, water damage, magnetic disturbances, lightning, viruses, sabotage, or green martians with an appetite for bits & bites. Mostly, they just decide to no longer rotate 7200 times per minute, and quitely give in with a slow, final spin. It can happen two days after you got your new computer, or four years later. If you still have a valid guarantee, you might get a new disk. If not, you'll have to buy one. In any case it will be shiny, new...and blank.
Enough already with the horror stories! You know what to do. Anyone with a computer needs to back up their data, unless someone does it for them. Now for the good news: Backing up is easy, fast and cheap. A couple of empty DVDs or an external hard disk, and you are pretty well set. Now all there is left is to actually do something. You can easily manage without any dedicated software for this. But if you do want or need a backup program, isn't it nice that some of the very best ones are absolutely free?
Main thing: Do it!
Surveys show that many businesses, especially small and midsize ones, have poor backup routines for their computer systems. But at least they are usually aware they have a problem, which is a good start if nothing more. Privately, however, most of us walk the slack line without a net - unless we have already experienced falling off and eating dirt. Some even need to do this a couple of times. Bless them, because the meek shall inherit my external hard disk, once I have outgrown it yet again.
Some fool themselves into thinking they have nothing to lose. Reading this, it is likely you are not one of them. But if you are, do yourself the favor of spending ten minutes looking at the contents of your hard disk. You are likely to find letters, spreadsheets, presentations, music, bookmarks - not to mention email. Maybe some personal videos too (or other people's personal videos, come to that). And with digital photography becoming so popular, you may have stored any number of photos; memories frozen in time that if they are lost are apt to be lost forever.
Any number of bad things can happen to a hard disk. Fire, theft, water damage, magnetic disturbances, lightning, viruses, sabotage, or green martians with an appetite for bits & bites. Mostly, they just decide to no longer rotate 7200 times per minute, and quitely give in with a slow, final spin. It can happen two days after you got your new computer, or four years later. If you still have a valid guarantee, you might get a new disk. If not, you'll have to buy one. In any case it will be shiny, new...and blank.
Enough already with the horror stories! You know what to do. Anyone with a computer needs to back up their data, unless someone does it for them. Now for the good news: Backing up is easy, fast and cheap. A couple of empty DVDs or an external hard disk, and you are pretty well set. Now all there is left is to actually do something. You can easily manage without any dedicated software for this. But if you do want or need a backup program, isn't it nice that some of the very best ones are absolutely free?
Main thing: Do it!
posted by Frode Fanebust at 7:38 PM
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