Back up your computer files

Surefire ways to avoid a data disaster

By Sandy McMurray

Laura Smith lost everything in a flash.

When she left for work, her home computer was fine. When she came home, all the clocks in the house were blinking 12:00, and her computer was dark. There had been a lightning storm that day.

“My kids tend to check their e-mail in the morning,” says Smith, a special needs teaching assistant for the Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ont. “The computer was on when I left for work and it was not on when I came home. When I tried to start it, there was a burning smell and smoke. Everything inside it was fried.”

Bank on backing up

Eventually, everyone faces a data disaster. Are you ready? Unless all of your electronic files are expendable, you should be making backup copies of your most important data regularly.

“Your backup is as important as your data and your time — because that’s what it’s going to cost you if you lose it,” says Cheryl Frogley-Rawson, an IT consultant in Toronto with Helpin’ Out, a computer support company for small businesses and individuals. “Even if you have hard copies, it’s going to cost you time to enter the information again.”

“You have to think of the worst-case scenario and do backups for that,” she says. “Plan for a hard-drive crash and make sure that base is covered.”

Copying and duplicating files

The key to a successful backup is getting a copy of your data off your hard drive. Focus on protecting your personal files such as letters, projects, sent e-mail messages, your e-mail address book and other essential information.

Don’t try to copy programs such as Microsoft Word or Outlook because they can be reinstalled from the original CDs you purchased. Likewise, the operating system software — Windows itself and any software provided by your computer maker — can usually be recovered from the installation or System Restore CDs that came with the computer.

A simple backup in Windows Vista requires no special software or skills. Click Start > Control Panel > Backup and Restore. Insert a blank CD or DVD into your disk drive, click Backup Files and follow the prompts to create a duplicate copy of your important files.

You can also copy files onto removable storage devices (such as a USB thumb drive or removable hard drive) using the drag and drop method. Choose the disk or drive (e.g., USB flash drive for Drive E) where you want to store the duplicate copy, hold down the right mouse button while dragging a file or folder, and then select Copy Here from the pop-up menu that appears.

Your e-mail messages and address book list can be exported and then backed up along with other personal data. This process varies according to the e-mail software used on your computer. Search Microsoft Canada’s Help and Support site for instructions to back up your Outlook 2007 e-mail and address book.

Storing your information

You should avoid using USB drives for long-term backups of important information. USB drives store much less than hard disks. USB drives are better for short-term storage of small files or for moving files from one computer to another.

Other options for protecting your personal data include recordable CDs, DVDs and external hard drives. You can even upload your data to a free Internet-based file storage service such as Windows Live SkyDrive, which offers 5 GB of storage.

To find the solution that’s best for you, compare the convenience, price and ease of use offered by each approach. For example, 50 blank DVDs hold about the same amount of data as a 250-GB external hard drive and cost significantly less. But an external hard drive allows you to drag, drop and rearrange files and keeps all your files in one place.

Label disks clearly, noting the date and time of the backup. Don’t erase the previous backup until you have made a newer one.

Schedule regular backups

How often should you make backups? If you use your computer occasionally, a weekly backup might be good enough. If you use your computer every day, a daily backup is a good idea.

Finally, whatever backup option you choose, be sure to check that it works. Duplicate a single folder or group of files, and then try to recover those backup files to a different drive or folder. Don’t wait until it’s too late to find that the restore process doesn’t work.