Don’t Be A Loser … Backup Your Photos and Data
Sweetie!?! The computer is making a strange clicking sound.
What’s that smell? What’s burning?
Weren’t all your digital photos on that computer?
Oh, no!
Don’t be a loser … like me. I am talking about loss, data loss. In terms of digital photography I am talking specifically about the pictures of your life that are more than likely all stored in one place only: the hard drive of your computer.
Wedding pictures, vacation pictures, birthdays, holidays; these precious moments of your life can be lost in an instant from a bolt of lightning or the spark of static electricity you might pick up from rubbing your feet across the carpet. Machines are imperfect and do fail, and by Murphy’s Law, they will fail at the worst possible time.
How much are your digital photos worth to you? A hard drive failure could cost between 0 and 00 to recover the data depending on the severity of the hard drive crash, if in fact your data is even recoverable.
Here is a short list of things you can do to protect your valuable photos, videos and other personal data:
Buy and Keep Your Antivirus Software Up To Date
Malicious viruses can erase your hard drive. Use a system that is updated automatically every day with the latest virus definitions.
Service Your PC Regularly
Dust that collects in and around your hard drives will make it overheat and that will shorten the life of the drive. Your computer acts just like an electrostatic air filter. Have it serviced by a professional at least once a year and keep them off of the carpeted floor, away from dust and pet dander.
I recommend getting an air filter and keep it in the room with your PC. Your PC will not breathe in as much dust, and as an added benefit, the air will be fresher and you will breathe less dust at the same time.
Keep Your Data and Photos Backed Up
Backing up your photos and data over the web is becoming a very popular choice for data backup. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. This is a great, cheap insurance policy. Online backup is like buying an insurance policy for your digital photo archives.
Here are the advantages of backing up to the Internet:
You can backup securely over any high speed Internet connection.
Since your data is stored on a server offsite, you are covered from events such as PC theft, fire or hard drive failure. You might consider what would happen if there is an earthquake, flood or other natural disaster wherever your backups are stored.
Mozy.com is the online backup system that I use. Recommended by PC World Magazine, it works equally well on PC and Mac. You can back up to 2 Gigabytes for free and you can backup unlimited data from your home computer for only .95 per month (even less with an annual subscription). They have a pro version as well for your office computer.
Many online backup companies offer a low cost data backup only to charge you on the back side to restore your backup data. Not so with Mozy. There are no surprise charges! When I asked their tech support to confirm, they told me “We don’t hold your data for ransom.”
So, don’t be a loser. You’ve invested hours and dollars in your digital photo library. It is literally priceless. One day (maybe even tomorrow) you will be glad you did, or sorry you didn’t. Save early and save often, and make data backup a critical part of your digital photography processes.
You might even encourage your friends to back up their data (send them a link to this article!) The next time they experience a data loss event, you may just become one of their biggest heroes.
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