Backup
Over the past year I have come
across a number of customers who fail to back up their data regularly and a
small number who have lost important documents or irreplaceable
photographs.
Backing up your data is not
difficult or expensive. First you need to establish how much data you
have and secondly which backup device to buy.
How much data?
There are various ways to
calculate the amount of data you have but the simple following
method is sufficient for the purpose of selecting a backup
device.
Click on the "my
computer" icon (either on the
desktop or the start menu) then click on
the "view" menu at the very top of the window and select the
"details" option. In the list that is shown you will be able to see
your computer's hard drive, usually labelled (C:) and described as a
"local disk". You will see two numbers, the first is the total size of
the disk and the second is the amount of space unused.
The numbers are probably followed by GB which stands for Gigabytes
and isn't really important other than it is a unit of measure for
data. Windows takes roughly 3
GB of your disk so
if you take the total disk space and subtract the free space and the space
taken up by Windows you will have roughly the amount of your
data.
example: 52.9 GB local disk - 19.0 GB free
space - 3GB windows =
30.9
GB
data
Now that you know how
much data you have you can select a method for backing up your
data.
For
less than 1GB you can use
a CD or DVD and the standard software that comes with your PC. Look
on the start menu for programs like Roxio, RecordNow, DVD Maker,
NTI Backup, or similar.
If you have less than
2 GB of data you probably have word processing files, a few
photographs and emails. In this case you can use a simple pen drive, also
called a USB memory stick.
If
you have more than 2 GB you probably have quite
a number of music files or digital photographs. Always remember that
photos, once lost, cannot be replaced. The most straightforward way
for you to backup (and therefore the way most likely to actually
happen) is to use a device called an external hard drive. This is
like the hard disk inside your computer however it connects using one
of the USB ports.
My recommendation would be to use a product from a
manufacturer called Freecom. I have used them for a number of years
and they have worked well. With the drive you also get software
that you can install and then run which provides a simple option to
back up your data. The software will automatically check your disk for
all documents, music, video, email etc. and copy it to the
external drive.
Cuurently Tesco has
an offer for a Freecom 250GB drive that will be suitable for the
vast majority of users for just under £70. If you have any questions
or would like me to set up the backup for you then please email me
or call me at the number below.
To
buy a Freecom drive online just follow the link below and then
select PC, Photo & Gaming, Data Storage, Freecom. The
device I would generally recommend should then be listed and is the
Freecom 250Gb 3.5" Hard Disk Drive for £69.97.
