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(Continued from page 1) Both free and paid backup programs are
available, although some free ones have lim-
facturer, which is why it is important to have a ited functionality. When purchasing a new ex-
good backup. ternal hard drive, it may include backup soft-
ware. Backup software lets you specify what
The next step is to back up personal data, to back up and to set a schedule for automat-
e.g., documents, photos, videos, etc. If you ic backups. Some have the option to schedule
are using an email client installed on your an initial full backup and subsequent smaller
computer, such as Outlook or Thunderbird, backups, called incremental backups, backing
find out how to back up contacts and emails. up files that have changed since the last full
Other software programs may store data in backup. One caution is that viruses can
special locations, so you will need to find spread to attached drives. Instead of automat-
those as well. ic backup, which requires the backup drive be
connected at all times, you can run manual
Backing up personal data is not a one-time backups, connecting the drive only while run-
event. Develop a backup plan and follow it ning the backup.
because the time that you miss creating a
couple backups is when you are going to Online backup and cloud storage are other
need them. One of our members mentioned options to consider. There is generally a
he uses five flash drives for backing up data, charge for online backup service and may be
backing up once a week, rotating through the a charge for cloud storage, depending on how
flash drives. Based on your use of the com- much data you have. An advantage is that
puter, you may decide to back up more or you can generally access your data from an-
less often. Why have more than one or two other device, e.g., computer, tablet,
backups? If you accidentally delete a file, you smartphone. Onliine/Cloud storage may not
may not realize it right away prevent loss of data if your computer is locked
and, if you only have a couple backups, by by ransomware.
the time you realize the file is missing, you
may have written over the last backup that With any backup solution, you should occa-
contained that file. Store backup drives in a sionally check to make sure the backups are
safe place, e.g., fireproof safe, or at least in running successfully and that you can recover
another area in your house, away from the files. Consider using a program that allows
computer. For pictures, videos, really im- you to restore select files without using the
portant documents, you might want to copy software that was used to create the backup.
them to an additional flash drive and store You may find you need a file while your com-
that drive at another location. puter is out of commission and you want to be
able to connect the backup drive to another
Most software programs are downloaded di- computer and access files without having to
rectly to our computers so we don’t have CD/ install software on that computer. Also, if you
DVD drives to reinstall from. Generally, if you only need one or two files, you don’t want to
need to reinstall the software, you can go to have to restore the entire backup.
the vendor’s website and download it again.
However, there may be restrictions on down- Whatever backup strategy you use, make
loading the software more than once, or there sure it is backing up everything you need. I
may be a charge to upgrade to a more current installed a new hard drive for someone whose
version. After downloading new software, hard drive had failed. He was using online
copy the installation files to a flash drive or backup so was confident he would recover all
external hard drive. When software comes of his data but, the default settings for the ser-
with activation codes, I print vice he was using did not include videos, so
that information to a pdf file and save the pdf they were not being backed up and we were
file on the same drive as the installation files. unable to recover the videos from the failed
hard drive.
You can manually back up files by copying
them from your computer to your flash or ex- Another backup/recovery option we discussed
ternal drive. Or you may decide to use a soft- was creating an image (also called system
ware program to manage the backup process. (Continued on page 8)
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