Are Data Backups Really That Important?

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Our computers have become a necessary part of our lives. We use them for doing work, corresponding with friends and family and even for entertainment. Over time, most computer users create many file that are important documents which could cost both time and money if lost. Data backups are the best way to ensure you don’t lose any of those files.

Many people think of backups as something large companies or computer geeks do. Or they might plan on doing it when the get the chance. Every one of those people has either already lost data due to some kind of problem with their system or they will one day. Every piece of computer equipment has a lifespan and is going to fail one day or another.

When that failure occurs, one of two things will happen. If you have a backup, you’ll restore it back onto your repaired computer or a replacement. If you don’t, you’ll be pulling your hair out over the lost files, music, digital photos and all the other stuff you store on your machine.

There are a number of things that can cause data loss. There’s the obvious hardware failures, where something in the computer breaks down but there are also things such as floods, fires or even your dog bumping the power off button at the wrong moment. You could also be the victim of a virus or spyware that wipes out all your files.

Having that data stored in a backup is often the only way to get it back. And even if it can be recovered by a data recovery service, it can cost thousands of dollars for them to do the work.

What Do You Need To Backup?

For the average user, it’s usually not necessary to backup every file on the computer, which would require large storage space. But at bare minimum home users should backup personal files and irreplaceable software. Spreadsheets with financial records not easily available from other sources, legal documents, work-in-progress… the list is large.

But backups needn’t be.

The easiest way to do backups is to use the backup software that comes with the operating system. Windows has a free, usable backup program while similar ones are available for Mac, Linux and others. The software is easy to use and backing up is a simple matter of selecting which folders to backup. It even has a scheduler so backups can be automated to occur at convenient times.

If you want something a little more powerful, there are a number of backup program you can purchase. These programs offer features such as only backing up files that have changed since the last backup, or those that have changed since a particular date.

Some types of data are a little more difficult to backup. Email is a good example. Some email programs don’t actually store the messages on your computer - they’re stored on the server instead. In these cases, you can usually export the messages into a file on your computer that can then be backed up.

Backups can be done to any kind of removable media - writeable CD’s/DVD’s, removable hard drives or even the newer ‘keychain’ devices that plug into a USB port. Even floppy disks can still be used in many cases. Documents often take a small amount of space. Just set aside 7 disks and rotate them from week to week.

Daily backups are one more thing to do in a busy schedule. But the day you lose that file you need and can’t restore, you’re going to be a whole lot busier.

Tags: Data-Recovery