Backup Basics

Ask Yourself

Do you...

• Make periodic backups of your important files?  
• Have a backup plan that you follow?  
• Backup your email address books and calendar?   
• Backup your favorites/bookmarks from your browser?  
• Backup software or music you have purchased and downloaded off the Internet?

If you answered NO to these questions, then you are just asking for a disaster to occur!  And don’t use the “It’s never happened to me before” excuse because it can happen to anyone, at any time.  Without a backup, if you want the files from your computer, data recovery costs start at $500. 

Take our advice and make backups often!

Where can you store backups?

• External hard drives (recommended)  
• CD-RWs/DVD-RWs  
• USB Flash Drives

Backup Tips

• Make multiple copies of backups, especially if you have important things such as a dissertation that you don’t want to lose  
• Protect backups with passwords  
• Keep backups in another location away from the computer you backed up from.  This way if the computer is destroyed, for example in a fire, your backup will be safe in another location.  Do not store them in your desk drawer because that might also sustain damage.