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Has there been a time when your hard drive crashed or you deleted some files accidentally? Did you really need to get those files back, but were unable to because you didn’t have a backup of those files?
Every computer user should create backup files. The newer versions of Windows have made that easier by putting almost all data files into the My Documents folder on your hard drive.
There are a couple of different ways you can backup your files in Windows:
- Windows Backup Program – If you click on Start-Accessories-System Tools, you will find the backup program that comes with Windows. The program varies some depending upon which version of Windows you have, but generally works the same way. Just follow the steps and it will backup your files and restore them too.
- Windows Explorer – For the more advanced user, you can use Windows Explorer. Once you are within Windows Explorer, you can click-and-drag files to your diskette.
How often should you backup your files? That depends on what you are doing and how important the files that you have are. It is a good idea to do it at least once a month or more if you have documents that you update frequently.
Do I need a zip drive or tape backup unit to backup my files? Most people will be able to get by without purchasing one of these units and just use diskettes.
Another option that is now available on a lot of computers is a Readable/Writeable CD-Rom drive. This allows you to “burn” your own cd. You can backup your information to the cd’s and they hold a lot more information than diskettes and some zip drives. It is also fairly inexpensive.
Do I need to backup the software on my computer? If you have to restore everything on your computer, it is easier to install your software from the cd’s that it came on. Otherwise, you might need quite a few diskettes.
The last thing to make sure before you backup your data files, is to make sure everything is being saved to your “My Documents” folder. The best way to make sure of this is to do a “Save As” within the program you are using. This will tell you where the files are being saved to. All Microsoft programs default to this location. If you are using a non-Microsoft program, you will want to change it to the “My Documents” folder.
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