Backing up computer data is essential as we all know but never do. There is nothing worse than losing years of family pictures in seconds when a hard drive crashes or a laptop is dropped.  I recommend my customers do a daily automated backup which is fairly easy to setup and can cost as little as $75 depending on the amount of data that needs to be backed up.

To get started you’ll need 2 things:

1) External USB hard drive.
2) Backup software.  (If the hard drive you purchase does not come with backup software, try Cobian Backup. It’s FREE and easy to setup).

How big should the external hard drive be?

First we’ll need to determine what needs to be backed up. Typically I recommend backing up 3 areas to start: Desktop items, Internet Explorer Favorites, and My Documents. (The My Documents folder includes the My Pictures and My Music folders).

size on disk properties

Finding the size on those three folders it simple. Go to “C:Documents and Settingsusername”. Username is the name of the person you are logged on as. You can typically find your Username at the top of the Start menu. Next, hold down the “Control” key and select each folder with your mouse. (You should now have all 3 folders highlighted). Right-click one of the highlighted folders then left-click Properties. Release Control key. In the Properties window locate the “Size on disk:” field and note that number. You’ll need a hard drive that will store all that plus room to grow.

Now to purchase the hard drive. Go with the brand Seagate, they’re the best. I recommend their FreeAgent line of external USB drives; it has easy to use software to setup your automated backup quickly.

How often should you backup?

I suggest daily. That way in the event of a large crash your data is only 1 day old. Pick a time for your backup to run when your computer is most likely to be on but not being used. Perhaps at 8 while you’re watching your favorite TV show? While running the backup will slow your computer down but it should still be usable if you’re patient. Most backup software will do a differential backup 6 days and a Full backup on the 7th.  If the software allows you to specify, try to use that schedule. If you keep your computer off and the backup is missed – no big deal cause nothing changed anyway! (Unless you have gremlins). Depending on the software it’ll either run when the computer is turned on or at the next scheduled time.

Compression and other options

Should you compress your backups? I say NO and I’m sure someone will fight me on this! The reason I say no is so that you can easily recover something accidentally deleted. Let me emphasize one word… EASILY. Sure you can uncompress and unecrypt your backup but who wants to do that when their freaking out because they just deleted their wedding photos! Recovery can be a few clicks away as you open your backup drive in My Computer and copy the pictures back to your My Pictures folder… whew, that was close!

Encryption, should you encrypt? Only if you’re going to be backing up sensitive information. My personal view, and (I do not take any responsibilty for this) is that I don’t keep any sensitive information on my computer without at least a password protection on it, so I say NO to encryption. If you have sensitive data you want to protect, use a product like Cryptainer. If you haven’t seen this software before it’s worth checking out, plus it’s my favorite price – free!

If you use software that doesn’t backup to one of the folders mentioned, open the software and find out where it can be backed up to.  For Example, I have QuickBooks set to backup to “My DocumentsQuickBooks” so it’s included in my daily backup.

Final Thoughts…

Backing up is essential, especially if you run a business from your computer.  For $75 and an hour of time, you can have the piece of mind that your data is backed up and safe.  I’ve seen at least 50 computers crash and customers lose data.   A photographer friend of mine lost 5 years of pictures and home movies.  Virtually all of them say “what would it take to start backing up my system?” and are amazed at how easy it actually is.

Good luck and Best Wishes!

DL