Backup Computer Tune Up - Take Preventive Measures to Backup, Secure and Protect Your Valuable Data

Recently, I lost the use of my computer almost entirely for six weeks. I have often said that you could put me on a desert island and I would be okay as long as you also gave me my computer. At no time have I felt this to be more true.



This happened very close to the same time as the fires here in Southern California. Of course my computer crash pales in comparison to the problems faced by the fire victims in Southern California. However, these two events made me wonder: Exactly what are the steps one should take to prevent losing data either from a computer crash or because of a natural disaster?



I called my friend, Paul Wagner, The Software Magician, and he had a great deal of knowledge as well as some very good ideas to share with me, so on October 31, 2007, we had a teleseminar in which I interviewed him on this subject. All of the proceeds from the teleseminar were donated to the Southern California fire victims.



Paul is well qualified to answer my questions. Since 1990 he has been teaching professionals and entrepreneurs how to get peace of mind and overcome technical overwhelm.



As shared by Paul in our teleseminar, backing up the data on your computer is easy and once you schedule your backups, it is done automatically according to your schedule.



It is much easier and wiser to prepare for a disaster than to find out too late that there were things you could have done, but didn't. I had done some things right and didn't lose all of my data, but there were a lot of things I could have done better which would have made the recovery much easier.



For example, I should have had the files on my computer better organized. You should keep all data under the folder called "My Documents." Under My Documents, create new, logically named sub-folders based on how you want to break down your business.



Use Outlook as a depository for much of your information that you need to keep such as passwords or log-in information. If you create sub-folders under Notes, this data will be backed up when your Outlook is backed up, but won't be downloaded to your PDA. This is important because information in PDAs is much more susceptible to theft.



Obviously don't keep your important financial passwords on your computer. Paul covered this in our teleseminar as well and revealed some suggestions for passwords which he calls junk, standard/private, and financial passwords.



Paul's idea of the "disaster or fire kit" really fascinated me and I am in the process of putting mine together. The disaster kit is where you put things you know you will need to take with you should you have to suddenly evacuate your home, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance information. This is especially valuable if you don't also have a safety deposit box.



In this disaster kit, you can also keep a CD with photos, copies of CD's you may have to re-install and screen shots of your router information. Replacing router information can be another expensive proposition. Keep the disaster kit in a safe (if you have one) or in a section of your file cabinet, preferably the front, where you can easily find it.



On the disaster kit or "fire folder," put a check list of what to do. You may be in panic mode and need clear instructions for yourself. The first item on that check list, in big letters, write in GRAB BACKUP HARD DRIVE.



If your computer is something more than a toy to you, if you have any data on it that is important to you-names and addresses of dear friends and relatives, work product, a book you're writing, research, important financial information, your journal, photos, goals, memories-even if it's just because you don't want to have to recreate something, you need a backup system.



It's easy to do and once you set it, you can forget it except to check occasionally to make sure it's still working properly.



No where does an ounce of prevention mean more than to be prepared for a computer hard drive crash or an evacuation. An ounce of prevention NOW can mean the difference between disaster and nuisance in the event of a hard drive crash.



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Patsy Bellah has been an entrepreneur since 1967, and provided outsourcing services long before it became widely known as a virtual assistant. She has been transcribing in one way or another (she started with shorthand) since high school. She is the owner of Great Transcriptions where the spoken word becomes the written word. Click here to go to http://www.greattranscriptions.com