How to Back Up Computer Files

Secure Your Data!

Backing up your data protects you from hardware failures, untimely power outages, viruses, theft and other problems that may cause data loss. The best backup plan includes a way to keep your data backed up off site. An Internet backup option, an external drive or DVDs stored at a friend's house or your office would provide protection in cases that include theft or damage to your home. Several options exist to back up your data.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use the Backup and Restore program included with your system. Both Windows 7 and Mac OS X include backup programs with the operating system. The most recent version of the backup program included with Windows 7 is a vast improvement and works to back up your data to external drives, network drives and DVDs. Mac OS X's Time Machine works automatically to back up your data to an external hard drive or network drive.

2. Sign up for an online service such as Dropbox. Dropbox works well if you have less than 100 GB of files to store. At the time of publication, the free plan includes 2 GB of storage, with two paid upgrades available at approximately $10 a month for 50 GB and $20 a month for 100 GB. Dropbox works particularly well to synchronize your files automatically in the background with online servers, allowing you to work on more than one device using the same files.

3. Manually backup your important files to an external drive or DVD. This is generally considered the worst option. It provides you with complete control over the files backed up and the schedule. However, backups created automatically on a scheduled basis work well since you don't have to think about backing up your files or worry about forgetting to create a new backup.

Tips & Warnings

• Use CDs for smaller jobs and an external hard drive for bigger backup needs

• Always backup your important files

References

• Microsoft Support: Backup and Restore

Resources

• Dropbox