Backup your data!
By Parrish Reinoehl, Pathfinder Networks
April, 2005
It seems that, for most of us, computer problems strike at the worst possible time. Recently I had a couple of different customers that asked if we could recover data from their hard drives. One was a home user that had a failing hard drive. They had many years of digital photos on that hard drive and did not want to lose those precious memories. Another was a business user with vital IRS data that had been corrupted due to a virus. This customer also asked if we could recover their business critical files. Both of these recent examples are similar- they both caused a lot of stress and fear for the computer users. One was possibly a personal loss while the other was possibly a financial loss. Both could have been easily avoided if the owners had a backup plan in place.
While we were able to recover nearly all the photos for the home user, the business user was not quite as fortunate. We were able to recover a vast majority of the business user’s data, but there was still some loss to be suffered. The recovery process entails a lengthy scanning process that examines every area of the hard drive in search of deleted or corrupted files. Often time’s files can be recovered even if the drive has been formatted or entirely erased. However, if the home user and business user had created reliable and regular backups of their data, it would have been a quick and easy matter to get them up and running with no loss of data.
I would guess that a vast majority of PC users do not backup their data to an external source. Think about the files you could not or would prefer not to live without. If you suddenly lost all or some of these files, what would happen? How many years of precious photos would you lose? Or, what would be the financial cost if your business suddenly lost a whole years (or more) worth of accounting information?
For some, the losses could be catastrophic.
Copying files to another folder on your existing hard drive does not suffice. What if that hard drive fails? It is now very easy to create a safe and secure backup copy of your files. Many devices now exist for both the home user and business to easily and economically use. Devices ranging from the old floppy drive to new USB flash drives on up to DAT tape drives and external hard drives all exist. If you have a broadband Internet connection you can even backup your files to a remote backup service. Some devices can even create an exact copy of your entire hard drive (data, software, and operating system) so that you can restore your entire PC if you have a catastrophic hard drive failure.
There are also many different types of software that can be used to automate the backup process. Some are included with your operating system, such as Windows Backup, some come bundled with your new backup device. Others, such as Veritas BackupExec, are designed with the business user in mind.
Primarily, you only want to backup (or create copies of) your data files. These data files consist of files such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Quickbooks databases, photos, mp3’s, or anything else you have created. Most of these files can be found under the My Documents folder on your Windows Desktop. Other files can exist in custom folders you have created or specific folders that programs have created.
These backups, typically, do not include the actual program files. With Windows and other operating systems you cannot copy entire programs to other hard drives. In these cases you need to reinstall the software (be it Quickbooks, Office, or your favorite photo editing software) and then restore your data back in to these programs. Knowing this, it should also be apparent that you need to safeguard the original installation media for your programs (be it on CD or floppy drive). If you ever need to rebuild a hard drive from a failure you will needs these original CD’s along with your data backups.
How often should you backup? For business users I generally suggest a daily backup. An automated system can be created that will run a backup each evening. The only human intervention needed is to swap out a tape each morning. For home users this can vary. For some, once a month would be sufficient. For others, once a day would be a better fit. It all comes down to how much new data you create and how often you create that new data. If you only add new photos or create new Word documents on your PC once a month, you would only need to make a backup once a month. If you constantly create new documents or add photos to your PC you may be more comfortable having a daily backup. If you have the right device and software in place there is no reason why a regular, scheduled backup could not be performed.
Once you have created a backup (be it on a CD, tape drive, or USB flash drive, etc) you then need to safely store this backup. What good would it be if your only backup tapes were sitting next to your PC and a fire destroyed both your PC and your tapes? A quality fire safe can be ideal in situations like this. Just be sure to consistently place your backups inside the safe. It’s also a good idea to take a copy of your backup and place it somewhere offsite. If you’re a business user, a safety deposit box can be an ideal location to store your backups because it is both secure and offsite.
Just as health insurance is there to help you if you have a serious illness, a consistent backup system is there to help you if your PC suffers from a serious ailment. If you would like more information about what type backup system or device you should be using or if you just have questions about what you should be backing up, please feel free to contact the technicians at Pathfinder Networks or stop by our Niles, MI store. We will be happy to help you become more secure with your data!
About the Author:
Parrish Reinoehl is President of Pathfinder Networks; a Niles based technology consulting firm specializing in providing affordable computer services to small businesses and home users including networks, PC support, sales, and service. Pathfinder Networks can be reached at 269-684-7696 or via email at parrish@pathfindernetworks.us
Pathfinder Networks website is http://www.PathfinderNetworks.us
Visit our retail location at 1920 S. 11th St., Niles, MI (in Belle Plaza). We now sell Dish Network Satellite television and Sirius Satellite Radio!
© Pathfinder Networks, LLC