I’m somewhat famous for having erased an entire novel, and since then have become a fanatic about safely backing up my files. I use a combination of methods, all of which has saved my butt a number of times.
Tip #1: Invest in a USB Hard Drive
This is your first and foremost defense today against losing files.
Don’t bother with a tape drive, because those are so slow and unreliable it makes backing up nearly as painful as losing the data. If performing the backup is such a horrid experience you’ll end up putting it off, and you don’t want to put it off.
Burning data to CD’s or DVD’s is a better answer, but as our hard drives get bigger and we accumulate more stuff over the years, even that can become tedious. So a nice big external hard drive — which have become fairly inexpensive lately — is the fastest and easiest answer. Most come equipped with backup software, too, but if you are like me and you put together one for yourself, go get a free copy of SyncBack and use that. I have yet to run across a better file-based backup software.
Tip #2: Invest in a Good Disk Imaging Program
If you want to backup your computer as a whole, and not just the data you’ve created, I highly recommend Norton Ghost. It’s not free but the expense is worth it, and you’ll be thanking yourself for spending the money the first time you have to use it. Ghost has rescued me more times than I can count. This will put your computer back exactly the way it was, operating system and all. Windows Vista users won’t need it, as Vista has that built in … but all you XP or earlier users will find it a godsend. With either, though, you’ll want that external USB hard drive.
Tip #3: Backup Data Among Multiple Computers
If you’ve got a home network with two or more computers, and those computers have some extra space on the hard drives, you can use a synchronization program such as SyncBack to automatically back up data files from each computer to the other. Obviously you don’t want to do this with private data, but if you’re in a trusted environment and others in your family understand not to go in and mess with those files, then this is a good way to keep all the computer data backed up without having to have a separate system such as the USB hard drive.
The trick is to create shared network folders on each computer, usually in the root directory, so that the other computer can map to it and use it as the destination for the backed up files. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, or are nervous about sharing files on your home network, then I would instead go with the USB hard drive.
Tip #4: Use Off-Site Storage
There are many free and paid services on the Internet where if you have broadband access you can store gigabytes of data. The two I use (even though they’re still a bit buggy) are XDrive.com and Jubii.com. XDrive offers 5 gigabytes of space for free, with an optional 50 gigabytes (not free), and also offers backup software as part of the deal. Jubii offers 10 gigabytes free if you sign up during their beta (hint, sign up now). I use both these sites to back up irreplaceable data, such as manuscripts etc. (Remember what happened to my novel?) That way you’re protected even if you get hit with a disaster and lose your computer and the USB hard drive.
The added benefit of these online systems is, if you are away from home and need a file, you can log in from any Internet connection and access what you need. That recently saved my butt at a SF convention where I was scheduled to do a reading — and forgot to bring the story! Lucky for me I had it online and also had my Wi-Fi enabled PDA with me … I downloaded the story at the very last second and was able to do the reading.
If you are uncomfortable storing files on the Internet, or if you don’t have broadband, the alternative is to back up select files to CD or DVD disk and put them somewhere else, like your office, a friend’s house, or even a safe deposit box. If you already have a box, then, there you go. Here’s something else to store inside it.
Tip #5: Remind Yourself To Actually Do It
Why? Because your computer hard disk WILL FAIL. It’s not a question of if, only of when. They are mechanical devices that experience wear and tear, and even though they’re more rugged and reliable than ever before they are still the Achilles heel of your computer.
I use Yahoo Calendar to send my cell phone various reminders via text messaging, and one of them is to do a backup every Thursday night. You don’t have to be so high tech. A calendar or even just a post-it note might work just as well. Just remember to do it, because … and I have seen this so many times … people usually lose their hard drives the day before they intend to back it up.
You have to perform the backup while everything seems to be running fine. Don’t wait, just do it. You will thank yourself.
