How To Backup Files Correctly

Picture a situation where you have freshly created an office presentation that is to be delivered in a day. Over the past week you have been burning the midnight oil, collating information and setting up slides. However, just before D-day your computer crashes and you realize that you haven't created a back up. Losing valuable data stored in your computer can be a disaster if you do not create a backup for your files. In this article, we shall provide you with useful tips on how to backup your files correctly.

Creating a backup on your computer

Windows Backup & Restore: - All Windows operating systems, most notably windows XP, Vista and Win 7 come equipped with a backup and restoration features. This enables you to create a backup of specific files or your entire computer. This particularly useful for beginners as it simplifies the backup process with user-friendly prompts and guides.

Time Machine: - If you have a MAC OSXV10.5 or later, you can avail the Time Machine feature. This unique backup system enables you to transfer your files to a separate hard disk or network volume. The Time Machine feature also includes an interface which can be used to restore your files or the entire system.

Disk Utility: - Additionally MAC users can use the disk utility feature. This backs up your files by creating a disk image of your entire Mac's contents. Disk Utility is a very convenient way to create a backup of your files as you can transfer the image to an external location of your choice.

Creating a manual backup

Creating a manual backup of your files involve storing your data on CD's, DVDs, USB flash drives, pen drives, external hard disks, etc.

CD's: - Although not as popular as they used to be in the 90s, CD's are a reliable way of backing up your files. With memory capacity of about 700 Mb. You can store a variety of data including word and excel documents, and are ideal if you are looking for short term storage of your files.

DVDs: - DVDs have become popular storage mediums today. They are more durable than CD's and also include a much larger storage space. Single layer DVDs have a storage capacity of 4.5GB, while dual layer DVDs have a capacity of 9GB.

Flash Drives: - Flash Drives have become ubiquitous these days, owing to their portability and utility. They are essentially USB drives that enable you to store as well as transfer data to and from your computer. You can do a variety of things with it such as read, copy, move or delete data from your hard disk.

In addition to the methods mentioned above, you can create an online backup of your files. There is a plethora of free file hosting sites available on the Internet. Most of these sites are free and require you to sign up with a username and password. The storage capacity of these sites range anywhere between 300 MB and 5GB. You can store a variety of files including documents, images, mp3's and videos. Some popular file hosting sites are File Den and File qube.