Most of us unfortunately learn the importance of backing up important files and valuable data the hard way. A lot of us wish that we had made a backup only once our precious photo's or client information is lost forever.
Don't let this happen for you. Make sure that you learn how to do backups of all your important data.
There are many ways that data can be lost, be it by either human error, software malfunction or hard drive failure. Typically, like most disasters, it usually happens at the most inconvenient time. A small business can have huge setbacks if data is lost and lost income can amount to thousands.
Make sure you plan ahead. Hard disks don't last forever no matter how well you look after them, and they can fail due to mechanical faults or even a power surge. Once this happens the recovery of the data is often impossible. There are companies around that specialize in the recovery of data on failed disks, but they generally charge a fortune, and even then there are no guarantees that all the data will be recovered.
Try to schedule a good backup in every week. Saying you are too busy is no excuse. Once you have your backup set up, it will take a few minutes to do. Back up onto a separate drive on your computer, a remote hard drive or a CD or DVD. It is also a good idea to keep a backup off site like at a friends house in case of theft or fire.
Start off by prioritizing the value of your data and decide how frequently it changes. If you have digital photos, music or movie files that don't change you will only need to back those up once. If you are working on files that change on a daily or weekly basis, you will need to back those up more often.
Ultimately deciding what you need to back up is a personal choice. Anything that you cannot replace easily should be at the top of your backup list. Before you get started, make a list of files that you need to backup and this will also help as a reference list in the event that you need to retrieve a backed up file.
Here are some file suggestions to get you started: Your Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Your Internet Explorer bookmarks, your E-Mail address book, bank records or other financial information, photographs, software that you purchased and downloaded from the internet and personal projects.
What are you waiting for, there is no time like the present to get those backups in order?
Source: ezinearticles.com