PC Tutor Times

Fall 2000, Volume III, Issue 2, Page 1

(Note: Links valid at time of first publication may not be valid today.)

Happy Thanksgiving
Jeeves Thanksgiving

PC World Magazine
How to Evade Data Disaster

Backups for Beginners

Back to School
Ask Jeeves for Kids

RefDesk.com

Bigchalk.com

B.J. Pinchbeck

FunBrain.com

Jiskha Homework Help

Monthly Tools
ScanDisk Instructions

Defragment Instructions

How to Update AntiVirus Software Over the Internet

PC Tutor Web Site
Home
Services
Rates
Links
Newsletter
Feedback

Past Newsletters
Spring 2000
Fall 1999
Winter 1998

Backing Up Your Data
Why and How

What would you do if one day you turned on your computer and your hard drive refused to work anymore, your files gone for good?  What if a virus attacked your computer and erased all the files on your hard drive, including the manuscript you had been working on for the last year.  These and other scenarios can wipe out all your hard work in a matter of minutes.

• Do you have word processing documents you could not live without?

• Do you have an e-mail address book or a list a favorite places on the web that would be very hard to recreate?

• Do you need to save your e-mail messages for future reference?

• Do you keep track of your finances in Quicken or Microsoft Money?

There are many reasons why we need to backup our data on our computers.  We never know when a hard drive will stop spinning (Hard drives spin at 4000 to 7000 rpm and are one of the only moving parts in a computer.) or when a virus might attack the data on it.  This past summer I had to completely reformat and reinstall all the software on two computers and physically replace the hard drives on three others.

It even happens to me!  One day in August I turned on my computer and nothing happened.  The hard drive refused to work and it was only five months old.  Luckily I had a complete backup of my hard drive that was five months old and a backup of my data that was only a few days old.  It still took quite a bit of work but at least I was able to get up and running again without having to recreate my data.

How To Backup

There are five methods to backup your data for safe keeping.  Each method has it's own pros and cons of time, ease of use and cost.

Sometimes it is hard to decide which backup method is right your you.  With some consultation we can decide together which method would give you the best protection for your situation.  Click Next below to find out more about each method or click on the method above you are interested in to jump to that one.

If disaster were to strike, using one of these methods to backup your data should help minimize the frustration and aggravation of having to restore your computer.

And always remember:

"Save early, save often and always backup your data."

Next

Page 1 of 6