Basics to backing up your computer

Backing up your data has come a long way from floppy discs!!! Today the best back up system involves having your files backed up to more than one place. You may well start with keeping it simple and use a plug in external hard drive and then get used to using cloud storage and quite likely use a combination of both, meaning that whatever may happen at least one method will survive any disasters. If you are applying for jobs or running any type of home business or even just earning some money from home, you will need to back up your files ~ it is a huge problem to lose your CV’s /resumes , covering letters and details of jobs applied for or going to be applied for ..and/or your business plan.



External Hard Drive

The first part of your backup strategy should be an external hard drive. Make sure it's as big (though preferably larger) as your computer’s hard drive, and transfer everything from your computer to the external drive regularly.
 Put your external hard drive in an easy-to-reach location so that you remember to connect it to your laptop whenever you're at home. If not, you might forget to back it up for a couple of weeks and lose that all-important document you'd been working on for months! You may even want to buy a second external hard drive and store it in a different location to be extra safe.



Online Backup Services

There are a huge range of online backup services available to choose from. For extra security in your backup strategy, you may even want to sign up to more than one service. All services work differently, but most allow you to download a program to your PC or Mac that'll automatically check for new or modified files within the folders you specify. Once they're up and running, these backup tools really are “set and forget”!
 Make sure to test any online backup service regularly. Even if you have no need to yet, you need to make sure it's easy to recover your files to your computer. This will check both the recovery process of the service you're signed up to, as well as the fact that the backup has worked!



There are a few drawbacks of online backup services, most notably the fact that they can use a lot of bandwidth to upload all your files to their services. The initial backup can also take quite a time to complete (depending on your hard drive size) and the software may use a significant chunk of processing power while it completes. Until you're sure everything's backed up online, make sure you have an alternative backup strategy in place, too.