itHomepage - technology for Home and Business

Recently I had an urgent call from one of my clients in something of a panic. Her pc had completely stopped working. It would not start! This in itself was bad enough but unfortunately the worst thing was her inability to get at the information she needed to do her job! I forgot to mention that she works from home and relies on her laptop for business and it contained a lot of very important and sensitive information.

She was fortunate in one way, in that she had a second computer to work at, but still the information she needed, including valuable business contacts (not to mention some even more valuable personal photographs of her, her husband, their children etc.), were also stored on that same laptop.

Well the truth is the disk drive had failed.

It needed replacing and, like all disasters of this kind, it happened at the worse possible time. But this was easy to resolve wasn't it? Simply replace the old disk drive, install Windows on the system and then restore the data from your back-up! After all we all do back-ups every night don't we?

Well, in my experience we don't.

Most of us assume it 'will not happen to me'. Until it does and then we have a serious problem. And yet setting up a back up is relatively straight forward.

There are any number of methods of keeping your information safe and sound:

Option One: External Storage:

Purchase extra disk storage space (an external hard drive) and every day or week copy the data from your main computer on to this hard drive. The advantage of this process is its simplicity. Relatively inexpensive, external drive are reliable and straightforward to implement on your computer.

 

 

Option Two: Windows Back up.

Use the Windows provided Back up program. This provides the option to schedule a daily or weekly task and enables you to be very selective about what gets backed up. It is a little more complex to use, especially when retrieving data from the back-up, but once you have done so a couple of times you will find the process straight forward. You'll need a spare disk drive (it can be a CR or DCD re-writable drive) or tape unit to make use of this facility.

Option Three:

Enable your pc to send your valuable data to a third party every night. This makes use of the power of the internet to connect computers together, and using a reputable supplier means that you will also be able to retrieve the information you need, when you most need it. The data is stored in such a way that only you can access it (it has special passwords and security keys that only you know).

The advantage of this approach is that there is no equipment to purchase, however there is a small monthly charge for the service based upon the number of pc's you are backing up.

And another thing.....

Whichever approach you use, it is best practice to check your back ups are complete on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

This means simply checking that the backup has worked and that you have actually saved a copy of the current data on your computer.

What next?

Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. The right one for you will depend on the importance of the data, the frequency your data changes, and the degree of automation you want.

If you would like to discuss which approach is right for you and / or for help in getting the system set up, please contact me at neal.umney@ithomepage.co.uk or call (01280) 702523