Computer Backup Basics

By Jeanne Feldkamp for The Online Family

Have you ever turned on your computer and the screen shows a fatal-looking error message?  You get that sinking feeling and you know something is wrong. Sure enough, all your files are corrupted -- or gone.

Even if you've never experienced major data loss, this scenario isn't as implausible as you might think.

"People often assume that something catastrophic, like a fire or a flood, has to happen for them to lose their data," says Shane Williams, owner of a major computer retailer in southern California. "That's a fallacy. Sometimes people accidentally delete important files; sometimes their computer has a manufacturing defect. There are data recovery services out there, but frankly, nothing is as easy or inexpensive as backing up your data yourself."

For many families, a single computer stores everything from photos and music to school assignments and tax documents.  Losing your files can mean losing items your family uses in everyday life, not to mention years of memories and vital records.

The goal of a backup strategy is to create extra copies of personal files such as financial records, school assignments, important email messages, your email address book, photos and music, as well as the personal settings each user has created on the computer (like your list of web site favorites). Don't worry about backing up your applications or your operating system -- you can use the program's original CDs to reinstall those.

Explore your backup options
What backup plan should you use? There are four main options:

• CDs and DVDs are a good choice if you need to back up only a few files -- or if you don't store photos or music on your computer. Copying data to a CD or DVD is easy to do.  After you insert the CD or DVD, copy the files from your hard drive to the disc.  And at less than $1 per disc, CDs are inexpensive.  One downside is that they don't hold very much data. With a maximum capacity of 700MB, though, backing up a typical family computer would take about 15 CDs (or eight DVDs). And because you can only copy to each disc once, you'll need a new CD each time you run a backup.
• Flash drives are small, easily removable storage devices that plug into your computer's USB port.  You can purchase a flash drive from any electronics store. The storage capacity varies depending on the size of the Flash drive you buy (usually about the same amount as a CD). Prices range from $40 to $125, so they cost more than a CD -- but unlike CDs, you can add and remove data over and over.  And this device is easily transported -- most are small enough to carry on your keychain.
• External hard drive is hardware that is built just like the hard drive that's already inside your computer. To use an external hard drive, simply attach the drive to your computer with a special cable that comes with the device. Most external hard drives come with easy-to-use backup software that allows you to schedule automatic backups at regular intervals. When choosing an external hard drive, pick one that's the same size as your computer's internal hard drive.  This should enable you to make a complete copy of your data in about 20 minutes. 20 GB to 80 GB drives typically cost from $100 to $200.
• Web-based backup services enable you to store a copy of all your data to a remote computer (known as a server).  This server is in a physical location away from your home. Using a Web-based backup service can help protect your data in case of a fire or a flood that destroys not only your computer, but also your external hard drive or backup CDs as well. With Web-based backup, you always have another copy of your data in a safe place. This service costs about $90 per year and up.

The downside? When you need to restore just a few files -- like after you accidentally delete a document -- it's usually slower to get them off a Web-based server. In such a scenario, it would be faster to retrieve the files from your own external hard drive or a backup CD or DVD.

Decide on a backup schedule
So how do you choose the backup plan that best meets your needs? First, establish a schedule. If you need to back up data you use frequently, like spreadsheets for your household finances, backing up once a week should be adequate. But if you use the computer mostly for Web browsing and only occasionally for uploading photos and other important files, backing up once a month is fine.

Once your backup schedule is set, you need to pick the backup medium -- or media -- that work best for the data your family needs to protect. "The safest choice is a combination of media," Williams advises. "But if you use just one, an external hard drive is the most important thing for home computers. By investing $100 to $200, you can get a hard drive that's big enough to back up everything on your family's machine, as well as the software that lets you automate the process so you always have a recent copy of your files."

Jeanne Feldkamp is a freelance business and technology writer based in San Francisco.