a little sermon on backups...

There is a thread over at The DigiChick (great new look, BTW!!) discussing external hard drives. I bought mine originally to do backups of my laptop hard drive, so it got me writing about backups. Here is part of my little 'sermon' on backing up your digital files...

Maxtor has a "one touch" external hard drive that you can use to back up your PC -- that is really important for someone like you who has a business that depends on your computer. (Kind of like having insurance on your home.)

One thing to keep in mind is that any magnetic media (i.e., HDD, diskettes, etc.) will degrade over time and use. For long-term storage, you should also make a backup with optical media (CD's & DVD's -- the non-rewriteable kind).

To take it to the next level, you should also store those backups offsite (think about Katrina; all those CD's of family photos are likely lost).

If you don't have files on your computer that you depend on for your business, you still probably have some sort of 'irreplaceable' files. Even if you don't archive your layouts, at the very least, burn CD's of your family photos. The ones that are digital only, the ones you have scanned, all of them.

Once the CD's are made, it is really easy to make 2 copies of each one. Then take those CD's and give them to an out of town family member or friend.

Why 2 copies? One to stash away for you in case you ever need it and one copy for them to enjoy!! (I just did this with photos of DD, and my mother in law was thrilled!!)

So make a date with your computer and make those all important backups!!