You've heard it a million times: Back up files on all the hard drives in your home network every day.
But you won't. People don't back up regularly until they have a disaster and realize how long it's been since they did a backup. That's an awful situation, and it provides the impetus for backing up religiously (at least for a while, until the memory fades).
If you take the time to establish a plan of attack, you can fight back when disaster strikes. For computers, the best plan of attack is a well-designed plan for backing up your data. Your plan must provide protection for important files and must be so easy to implement that you won't be tempted to skip doing it.
Back up often
Computers die. Sometimes only one part of a computer dies, but it's usually one of the important parts, such as the hard drive. You have to approach the use of computers with the attitude that one of the machines on your network could go to la-la land, or that a hard drive could go to hard-drive heaven, tomorrow.
If you don't plan for a sudden demise of your equipment, the computer fairies figure it out - they notice that you're complacent (they call it smug), and they break something. Computer fairies must be the culprits - nothing else explains the fact that most computers bite the dust the day after the user has finished writing the greatest novel in the history of literature or an important report for the boss that's sure to mean a promotion - no backup files exist.
Configure computers for efficient backups
The easier it is to back up data files, the more likely it is that you'll perform the task every day. Think about it: If you keep the vacuum cleaner in the hall closet, your house will stay cleaner than it would if you kept the vacuum cleaner in the attic. Convenience is an invaluable assistant.
Store all data files in the My Documents folder and make sure that all the people who use the network do the same. If you like to organize files by type, either by software application or by some other scheme (perhaps separating letters from other documents), create subfolders for each type of file. When you copy the My Documents folder, you copy all of its subfolders.
Some software applications (for example, Quicken) have a backup routine that's built into the software. If the software backs up your data files to a floppy disk, that's best. If, however, the software backs up your data files to a separate backup directory on your hard drive, redirect that backup to a subfolder under your My Documents folder. Otherwise, you have to take the time to back up that separate folder in addition to your My Documents folder.
Safeguard software CDs and disks
If a hard drive on the network dies, you have to install Windows on the replacement drive. Then, if you have a total backup of your entire drive, including the registry, you can restore that backup and put everything back the way it was before the demise of your equipment. You usually have to do a bit of tweaking, but essentially, the move to the new drive goes pretty smoothly.
If you don't have a total backup of your drive, all isn't lost. As long as you backed up the data files, you can reinstall the operating system, reinstall your software, and then restore the data files that you backed up.
This plan works only if your original software CD or disks are available. Storing the original disks for Windows and the software that you purchased in a safe place is important. Consider using one of those fireproof boxes that you can buy in office-supply stores.
If you have software that you downloaded from the Internet, copy it to a subfolder in the My Documents folder so that it's backed up when you back up your documents. If you have a large removable disk drive on your system, dedicate one cartridge to downloaded software programs (most downloaded programs don't fit on a floppy disk).
Safeguard backup media
Whatever backup media you choose - whether it is floppy disks, Zip cartridges, backup tapes, CDs, USB thumb drives - make sure that you have more than one on hand. Don't back up on the one that holds your last backup; if something goes wrong during the backup, not only do you not get a good backup this time, but you also destroy your previous backup.
The ideal situation is to have a disk, or whatever you're using, for each day of the week. If that seems too difficult or too expensive, create one set marked Odd (for odd days) and another set marked Even (for even days).
If a fire, flood, or other catastrophe strikes, then after you clean up the mess, you can replace the computers. You can replace and reinstall software, but you have no way to restore all those important documents, accounting information, and other data that you created on your computer unless you have a backup that's stored out of harm's way.
That's why, once a week, you should take your backup media out of the house and leave it with a neighbor, at work, or at your vacation home. Don't forget to bring the backups back the following week so that you can put a current backup on the media and take it away again. You'll probably be able to find a neighbor with a computer and backup media who wants to do the same thing, so the two of you can trade disks or tapes.
