It’s World Back Up Day!

No, you don’t have to stop walking and adjust your position. But you do need to make sure all our media content is secure.

If you’ve ever had an issue with losing files, crashing computers, or missing media, then this day is especially near and dear to your heart (because you know the stabbing feeling of working on something and then seeing a blank screen. This can cause insanity.) But even if you haven’t, all of us living in this digital world where our smart phones and laptops are our lifelines, it’s crucial to take the necessary steps to ensure that these vital techno organs are taken care of.

The most common form of back up is implementing an external hard drive. I think this is the safest, easiest way to have another physical copy of what you already have on your computer, but let’s not stop there. You can burn discs or use Cloud-based services like Carbonite, Mozy, or DropBox which provide an online database of all your stuff. And they aren’t free, but, hey! Shell out some dough to solidify your safety. You wouldn’t expect something like a helmet, a safety harness, or a heart transplant to be free, wouldya?

So, let’s review. There are basically three ways to back up your files.

• Using an external hard drive or a USB memory stick
• Using DVDs/CD-ROMs/Blu-ray discs
• Using an online backup service

The one thing I will say about burning Blu-ray discs is that you have to get archival versions. When you store on discs, this is going to be the best option.

Today I learned that in order to delete an online file, you have to re-write over the data 7-8 times for it to disappear. Seems like a lot of work but there are plenty of applications (like ShredIt X) which do this automatically for you. This is an important step when you’re going through files you want to keep or delete.

There are plenty of options—pick one, two, ten, it doesn’t matter. Just get it over with. Trust me: you’ll breathe a lot easier with the knowledge that if your computer is included in the annual average of hard drives that crash, you won’t have to shed the tears of shame knowing this could of been alleviated by attaining a method of back up.

More Tech News

Google Suggestions, Google Instant, and Google Local Search: SEO 2.0

Batman: Arkham City Trailer Is Pretty Great, Says Online Weirdo

YouTube Vs. Akamai: When B2B Beats B2C

Comments