Backing Up Ain't Hard To Do!

If there's one tip that I could ever pass on to our fellow computer users, it's to routinely back up your data. Heaven forbid, but there may come a time, when you least expect it, that your computer's hard drive will be damaged or fail. This can be especially devastating if any of your important files can no longer be accessed from the drive. Or worse, destroyed.

Data stored on our laptop hard drives are most critical, since they can be more expensive than desktop PC hard drives, and tricky to repair.

The first item that you'll need for backing up your data is some form of data storage. The amount of storage you'll need of course depends on how much data you're backing up.

For some, a recordable CD or DVD might be plenty. If your laptop or desktop PC doesn't have a recordable optical drive installed, you can easily use an external DVD burner. This should be enough if you're backing up your documents, address book, email, internet bookmarks, or other small projects.

For things like this, you should probably create a CD or DVD back-up disc once every week. I suggest doing so on a Friday evening, so you have complete peace of mind for the weekend.

You might have projects that you want to back up daily. Losing even a day's worth of work can be cumbersome, depending on what your project might be. Backing up your work to a new CD-R or DVD-R can get expensive, so in this case I recommend a portable USB flash drive. 1GB to 8GB should suffice, though larger capacities are available, should you need it. You'll not only have more storage space available on a thumb drive, but there are also security applications out there that will protect the data in case of theft.

If you have much more data that you'd like to insure an extra copy of, then you might want to invest in an external hard drive. An external hard drive is ideal for copying large media files (video or music collections), digital photo collections, or software downloads. A hard drive that's the same, if not double the capacity of your local hard drive is most recommended. As of the time of this writing, a 1TB (that's 1,000 gigabytes) external hard drive can easily be bought for under $80.

Off-site data storage services are also available. Depending on the service you sign up for (like Carbonite or Mozy), you'll be able to upload your data to their backup facility. This kind of service is useful in the event of a disaster that destroys all your local equipment. After all, if a fire or flood destroys your computer and the back-up drive sitting next to it, you're still out of luck.

Now that you have the storage, you'll need the tools to start creating the back-ups. A computer novice may make the mistake of simply storing their files on the external drive and call it a "back-up". But here's the rule: If you only have one copy, it's not a back-up! You'll need to create and synch multiple copies of your files to truly cover your bases.

Windows has some built-in back-up utilities, depending on which version you're using. You'll be able to create back-ups of files, settings, or your hard drive's entire contents.

Windows XP has its Backup Utility in the Start menu here:

Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup

In Windows Vista and the new Windows 7, go to the Backup and Restore Center from your Control Panel. From there, go into System and Maintenance and click on Backup your computer. From here, you'll have the option to use Automatic Backup, which will schedule a regular back-up of selected files. Complete PC Backup will back-up everything, including system files and your installed applications.

There are plenty of third-party software utilities as well; many of them available for free. Though most of the free ones will only create copies of files and synchronize your back-ups with your local data.

High-end back-up software (such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost) will create complete disk images of your local drive. A disk image is essentially an exact copy of everything on a hard drive contained in one massive file.

This is why I recommended an external drive that's equal or greater than your local drive, as you may want to create multiple disk images. You can then use these images to perfectly recreate your system onto a new hard drive. This is a fantastic ability for not only replacing damaged drives, but also for simple hard drive upgrades.


In the unfortunate event that your hard drive does fail, Triangle Laptops can help you recover your lost data. As part of our laptop repair service, we perform an extensive check on your failed hard drive and take as many steps necessary to recover your important files.

For more information about laptop hard drive data recovery, take a look at our laptop repair service page. You can also send us your questions via email or call toll-free 1-877-456-7869.