Computer Backups and Why They Are Important

My computer wouldn’t wake up this morning. I let it hibernate and it wouldn’t wake up. That happens more often than you would think. This morning, I simply shut the computer off and restarted it – it failed to come up. I had to pull the battery to make it work. That’s an extreme solution and it did trigger the computer to detect that the startup had failed and it ran a startup repair program. That took over a half an hour to run and then it gave me a message that it wasn’t able to fix the error – I was to detach any cameras or music devices I had attached to the machine and boot again. I didn’t have any, but I did have some drives connected to it. I chose to detach them and reboot the computer. It seems to be fine now, but it did make me think about backups.

Backing up our data is something most of us don’t think about. I back up one computer to one those online backup services and the other to an expansion drive. Both methods have their pros and cons. The online service costs money and requires you to have the computer connected to the internet, while the expansion drive only costs whatever you pay in the initial outlay when you buy the drive. Both methods allow you to retrieve your data in the cases of a file accidentally deleted or if it becomes corrupted. However, if your computer crashes, the online backup is inaccessible until you can connect again. The expansion drive is right there. Ideally, you should back up your data in two separate places. That way, if one backup becomes inaccessible or corrupted (yes, that can happen), the other will still be available. Most operating system have some sort of data backup programs built in, so you don’t need to buy one specifically, just tell it where to back up the data to and set up the schedule. That’s all there is to it.

The concept of backing up your data is a good one, especially if you don’t want to lose any of your data. Computers do fail on occasion and that means that important data can be lost. That’s why backups are so important. My current story projects are on that computer that was acting up. I realized that I can’t remember when I last backed that computer up. so I resolved to do that at the first opportunity and did so.You should think about backing up your data as well. I will start that process and use Window’s built-in backup manager to back up my data files to my expansion drive. I’ll create a backup area for it and put the data there. Then I will have it available to the next computer, if the first one fails again and can’t be recovered. That’s the best solution. So stop surfing the net and back up your data. You will thank yourself later.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!