Different Ways to Create a Computer Backup for Your Important Files

Desktop and laptop PCs are great at facilitating much of our responsibilities, whether at home or at work. Over the course of a few weeks or months, one can quickly amass a ton of data like important files, music and movies. However, there is always a possibility of losing that data, whether from a virus, having to reformat the PC or the file itself becoming corrupt. Computers crash when least expected and natural disasters may strike without warning. All these are potential causes of data loss. These instances are almost inevitable, but for the most part are avoidable.

If you are exploring options on how to backup files on your computer then you are on the right track to protecting your data from possible loss.

When these situations come up, the effort you made on knowing how to backup files and just doing this regularly will be worth it. There are several ways to accomplish this, most of them free once you get the necessary hardware while others will require you to shell out for a small fee. Here are just a few of them.

The 6 most convenient ways backing up your computer files are:

1. Email : Backing up files via email involves attaching every single file you are working on to an email message. This method is a very simple one, and as email is free or costs very little. On the downside, attaching files to emails individually can be a very tedious task, and may even cause you to miss backing up a file or two. Email storage is also limited so you won’t be able to back everything up. Plus, you need to be prepared for the possibility that when your email service is down, you won’t have access to those backup files.

2. Using backup utilities that come with Operating Systems: Backup systems offered with an OS like Windows 7 are reliable and comes at no cost at all. But if you are creating backup files with the intention of protecting your data in case of a hard drive failure or a computer crash, it really doesn’t make much sense to store the backup file in the same computer.

3. Using third party solutions or software backup utilities: One good thing about this option is that these backup utilities are usually very affordable. Unfortunately, many things work against them. First, some software can eat up a lot of your resources and bog down your computer. Others can be really buggy and may not run properly or backup automatically. If the software itself can’t be trusted to work properly and can even crash, it’s not really a very reliable solution, is it?

4. CDs and DVDs: Keeping backups of your computer files in CDs and DVDs is a very common practice. What makes this method popular is the ease of the process. On the other hand, backing up files through CDs can be very time consuming, and costly in the long run because even a small amount of data may require an entire CD. Optical disks are also prone to scratches that can damage the file contents, or they can be easily snatched or misplaced. Should any of these happen, how would you retrieve your backups?

5. External hard drives: Using external hard drives is one of the better solutions on how to backup files on your computer. The pros: external hard drives are affordable, and are now available in the 1 terabyte level so huge files are a breeze. You don’t need to worry about the hard drive getting scratched, and with only one device to think about, keeping it secure is easy too. Lastly, these drives do automatic backups so you don’t always have to remember to do it manually.

Backing files up using external drives does have its disadvantages, though. Just like your computer hard drive, it can crash too! And because hard drives are kept “on site” (again just like your computer), it can also be destroyed in the event of a calamity like a fire or flood.

6. Online Backup: There are many advantages to using online backup services. They are affordable and easy to use. They backup files automatically everyday; no need to remember doing the backup yourself. The best thing about online storage and backup is that the files are kept “off site” – far from the dreaded crashes, viruses, and disasters.

However, online backup has its flaws too. For one, restoring files is not as convenient as it should be. File retrieval can take up to days for large volumes of files or restoring the entire contents of your computer. You should also remember that you are depending on a third party for the security of your important files and data. If the company goes out of business or just stops its service for some reason, where would that leave your files?

So which is the best computer backup solution?

Now that you have a good idea of how to backup files on your computer, you be the judge of the best safeguarding alternative. At Stellar Phoenix, we find the last two options, external hard drive and online backup most useful because the safest way to store your data is through a multi-layered strategy involving multiple storage locations and real-time backups. This way, you can always have a physical backup with you for a quick file retrieval process, and you have an online backup too in case of computer disasters at your end.

At Stellar Phoenix, we want to improve your backup strategy, not fix it. But should disaster strike anyway, you can trust Stellar Phoenix to recover your data and help you get back to business.

• Call us at 1-855-BY-STELLAR (297 8355) or click here to complete a service request form.
• You may also visit our web site directly to learn more about our capabilities.

We stand behind our service to you. Let Stellar Phoenix be your go-to source whenever you have data retrieval challenges.

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