Are You Backing Up Your Data? How to Make it Simple!

We all know we "should" back up our data to protect our valuable information, but we are so busy, or we rely on someone else in our organization to do it. Our computers run reliably for years, so we become complacent and trust the computer or the process we think we have in place.

And then, disaster strikes! Your computer crashes, or your computer is stolen, or staff changes, or there is a fire/flood, or your hard drive fails. Hard drives have moving parts; they fail! My momma used to say, "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda!" meaning that I needed rethink a situation and manage it another way.

Think about it this way: how bad would it be to lose a day's, week's, or month's business information? What if you lost your client list completely? Okay! Enough said! What is the best way to preserve our precious business data?

We recommend a flash drive that plugs into a USB Port. I saw a deal at a big box store yesterday that was $31.00 for TWO 2GB drives! The size you choose depends on the data you have to back up. If you have only your business data, a small drive is plenty. If you have lots of pictures and music, you should see how much space you need now and double it! It is still relatively inexpensive. Get two drives. Alternate them. Keep one or both off-site in a safe place.

One mistake businesses often make is to backup, but the backup goes to the "C" Drive which normally is the hard drive on your computer! You need to be sure to back up to the "F" or "E" or the proper letter which is your Flash Drive. Once the drive letter is set, the backup will normally go to the proper drive.

Next, quickly check the drive "To Be Sure" that you have a backup file for the current date. You do that by clicking on the drive letter and taking a look to check the date and relative file size! How often you check is up to you. A daily habit is good to cultivate, but if you check once a week, the worst that could happen is that you lose a week’s worth of information. It is your choice!

Be sure to find the help you need to GET THAT BACKUP! Your software company can help you, or a computer tech, or even a savvy friend.

Next Article: Automated Online Backups!