by Playfuls Staff |
3rd September 2006
These days you can buy insurance protection against almost every eventuality. Whatever the danger (accident, fire, death or disability) there's a policy to protect. [more]
Things are however different on the computer front. People don't seem to worry much about the potential loss of all their personal data. But anyone who stores important documents on their computer needs a good back-up strategy.
"The important thing is to do it regularly," advises Karsten Violka of c't, a Hannover-based magazine. This is not just because the computer contains sensitive documents. Hard drives can break down and computers can be stolen, either of which could spell the end of entire photo, video or MP3 collections.
Also, anyone who regularly tries out new software is well-advised to make system backups says Arne Arnold from the Munich-based magazine PC-Welt (PC World). If the changes made by the new program cannot be undone, you often have to start the computer from square one, for example by accessing "Program/Accessories/Reset" options in Windows XP.
People who use their computers intensively should save their data daily. "It's important to set up a strategy, for example to make a complete backup on the first day of every month and to back up the changes on a weekly basis," recommends Arnold.
Freeware programs like "Filesync" (http://www.fileware.com) let users move data to external hard drives. The software compares the destination and source drives and only updates new data. If automatic backup systems are preferable, Arnold recommends back-up programs with timers.
"Windows XP also allows automatic backups," says Thilo Noack, an IT adviser and PC trainer from Hamburg. Under Programs/Accessories/System Programs/Security" software that allows regular backups can be found.
"Hard drives and USB sticks are well designed for data storage," says Noack. Just like with back-up programs, these can be set to copy all data or only changes since the last update. People who save daily should create a file for each day, which has the advantage of creating multiple copies of all data.
Duplication is the core of a good strategy. Anyone who regularly saves data onto CD or DVD is already playing it safe. "But as soon as you have so much data that it doesn't fit onto a blank disc, hard drives become the only practical solution," says Arnold.
Particularly important data should not be stored on just one medium, warns Violka. Three to five rewriteable backups should be utilized that can be written over one after another. Ideally, hard drives, USB sticks and discs should be kept in separate locations. "You have about five years before you should replace the data on a DVD onto a newer data storage device," advises Arnold.
By Arnd Petry,
© 2006 DPA
