Friday, May 26, 2006 7:52 PM
Home computer tip #1 -- of many more I'm sure... ;-)
Everyone knows that frequent backups are important, but most people don't do them. Software such as
Acronis True Image Backup makes it easy to make frequent (even constant) backups, but not everyone can afford it. If you can (around $40 on Amazon.com), you should! If not, at least drag your documents folder to your CD/DVD burning program weekly or so and make some discs. It's a pain to rebuild a computer, but mostly, it's just that -- a pain. If you lose your documents, on the other hand, you're out of luck. [This leads to a side point:
always save your documents to your My Documents folder so they are easy to manage. Also, tools like the Windows Files and Settings Settings wizard (FAST) do a great job of preserving documents and settings to migrate them or back them up.] The problem is, what do you do with your important CD/DVD's once you have them?
For $30-$40/year you should be able to get a decent-sized safe deposit box at your local bank. Keeping your discs anywhere else is just tempting fate! As recent tornadoes in my area point out, you can never assume your house is safe. Try to backup weekly or so, and drop off discs at your safe deposit box at least monthly. You'll feel much better about it!