External Hard Drive Back Up Versus Online Hard Drive Back Up
The Importance Of A Hard Drive Back Up
First and foremost, I cannot stress the importance of a hard drive back up. If you use your computer more than once a year, you need to back up your hard drive, plain and simple. There are no excuses for avoiding this. And this task can be extremely easy. There are several solutions for you to back up your hard drive, and the easiest one happens to be free nowadays. If your computer is at least new enough to have Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can accomplish this feat in just a minute or two using the Microsoft Windows Back Up Wizard on your computer.
If you’re in trouble and need actually need Hard Drive Recovery Help, we have an article for that as well.
Using Your Windows Back Up Wizard On Your Computer
This is the easiest and most commonly used form of backing up your data on your computer, though, if you are like me, and need a little more, you will do this, as well as one of the solutions below. Using your Windows Back Up Wizard is just as easy as the first time you learned to use the internet (maybe even easier). Below are the steps for using the Windows Back Up Wizard.
- Click the start menu on your bottom task bar of your computer – Usually this is a Windows Logo
- You should see a main menu, with a “Search Bar” at the very bottom or top of your menu
- Using the Search Bar type in the words “back up wizard”
- A new window should open with the Back Up Wizard ready to use.
- You should see some options on how to set everything up as to “how often” and “what to back up”
- Follow the instructions given to you. If you already see that a back up exists, check the “manage options” selection to ensure that it is backing up as often as you’d like it to.
It really is that simple. This is the primary defense you have to lost data on your computer, however, I recommend that if your computer has important data on it, or simply media files that you have stored nowhere else, you should highly consider one of the options below.
External Hard Drive Back Up
External Hard Drive Back Ups are a very quality form of ensuring that your data never gets lost or permanently deleted without your consent. Their prices range from under $100 on up. I have seen them as expensive as nearly $1000; however, I have never needed one as expensive as that. You’ll want to ensure that the external hard drive back up has the capacity (memory) for backing up all of your system files and personal files that are on your computer. To check this, simply click on your start menu and click the “Computer” or “My Computer” tab on the second column of your menu. It will tell you how much memory is used and available on your computer currently. Ensure that you purchase an external hard drive with at least triple this amount. You’ll want to ensure that your external hard drive has the capacity to have a minimum of 3 back ups on it – this is just in case you realize that your most recent back up is corrupted.
As well, you should ensure that you purchase an external hard drive back up that has the option to generate automatic backups and has its own power source. If you use a back up that relies on your computer’s power source, it can cause other problems with your computer. I recommend also ensuring that your external hard drive uses a USB 2.0 connection, as it is the most updated an effective device-to-computer connection available to date. Firewire is good, however, in my opinion, USB 2.0 is far superior.
Online Hard Drive Back Up
Online Hard Drive Back Up solutions are becoming more and more popular. Have I used one? No. I’m far too paranoid to trust my files in the hands of someone in cyberspace. It’s not that I worry they will risk their reputations over being nefarious or malicious with my data, it’s simply that if they are “there” and I am “here”, it makes it more difficult for them to help me. I’m sure there are some quality online hard drive back up solutions, however, I feel more comfortable and confident in spending a couple of hundred dollars to manage it myself. It didn’t take me long to learn what I needed to learn, and since my last issue with a computer crash, I feel as safe and secure as possible that I won’t have a stressful time recovering my hard drive.
