Consumer Statistics Survey – 50% Of Computer Users Lost Data In 2010

According to a survey conducted online by ConsumerStatistics, between December 1, 2010 and December 4, 2010 – most of us are concerned, to some extent, about the loss of family photos stored on our computers. It seems the “concern”, is more than justified.

Of the 6,149 people in 128 countries who participated in the ConsumerStatistics study, 67 per cent reported having experienced the loss of digital photos, and additional files, through a Hard Drive failure, accidental deletion, a malware attack, theft, or exposure to a natural disaster including fire, flood, and so on. I found it most surprising, that just under 52 percent reported the loss of  irreplaceable data within the last year.

Survey methodology:

Survey conducted online between 12-01-2010 and 12-04-2010.

Survey methods include: Email, focus groups, surveys, social media.

Here’s a sample question from the survey: How often do you backup your home PC?

Survey Highlights:

89.1% of home PC users do not perform regular backups.

67.1% of home PC users have lost pictures and files on their home PC. 51.4.% within the last year.

69.2% of home PC users are most worried about losing their digital pictures.

Survey Summary:

The survey conducted found that people do neglect doing proper backups for their home PCs, and put their valuable data at unnecessary risk.

Over 89% of the respondents do not perform regular backups, and of these people, 76.6% have suffered from data loss. Yet, 91.3% of respondents surveyed believe that backups are important.

As a technologist, the survey stats are not a all surprising – data loss is inevitable; and it happens much more frequently than an average computer user might suspect.

As regular readers of this site are aware, there is a cornucopia of free backup solutions, readily available for download on the Internet, which range from the uncomplicated and easy to use, to the more complex specialty solutions designed for power users.

A good example of a simple backup solution can be found in this article –

Free EASEUS Todo Backup – Easy Backup For The Rest Of Us, posted here January 7, 2010. Additionally, a site search here for “backup solutions”, will return 20+ articles on free desktop and online backup applications.

Failure to mitigate the risks associated with the lack of regular backup, defies common sense. Experience tells me that you will experience data loss. Recovery of that data, while not entirely painless, will be possible – if you have prepared for the inevitable.

The ConsumerStatistics study makes for interesting reading, and I encourage you to read the full results here.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

ZenOK launch first free antivirus application….

Diego Gutierrez, Link Manager, at startup computer security provider ZEN OK, has submitted the following as a guest article.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. I have not tested this product for functionality, reliability, or any other “ility”.

ZEN OK is a breakthrough antivirus malware scanner that protects valuable pictures and documents stored on computers and laptops.

ZEN OK combines a major advance in data security design with ZEN OK’s legendary Online Backup Service, which automatically uploads all your pictures, music, spreadsheets and documents real-time to an military-grade secured server, far enough to keep them safe from fire, floods, earthquakes and other disasters. ZEN OK keeps your files up to date whenever you change a file or create a new one on your computer.

With ZEN OK, engineers invented a whole new category of patent pending data security products that lets you protect your data and computer with just one product.

ZENOK has applied its legendary expertise on data security to make ZEN OK the most secure data protection suite ever.

Hackers and criminals spread over 5000 new viruses every month; with just 20% of computers using up-to-date protection suites; data security has become an major issue. Several companies already filed bankruptcy after they lost their customer data. Protecting yourself can be expensive. But not anymore with ZEN OK’s legendary free of charge Antivirus suite…

ZEN OK is already available online for download from the ZEN OK Website (www.zenok.com).

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Download Dmailer Backup – A Free Handy Dandy, Easy Backup Utility

If you’re looking for a free handy dandy, easy backup utility, that also includes 2 GB of free online storage, then take a close look at Dmailer.

One of the features offered in Dmailer, might appear at first glance to be a negative – but it really isn’t. Dmailer will not allow you to backup to an internal storage device.

Backing up to an internal device is of limited value, since this device is subject to the same exposure risks as the primary drive. You can however, backup to an external hard drive, USB device, or even an mp3 player.

Recently, guest writer Glenn Taggart in his review of Orb, a web based media streamer, made the comment “it’s so simple to set up, a caveman can do it”. The same words could be used to describe Dmailer. It really is a simple application.

Take a look at the following screen captures of my initial test session. The screen shots reflect a single continuous session. Using Dmailer is just as easy as the screen shots suggest.

Fast facts:

2GB of free online storage

Backup by file types, size and date

Restore your data in one single click

Unparalleled security

Easy set up and no installation required

Continuous and automatic live backup

Contextual help to guide you through the application features

Password protected and AES 128-bit encryption

Available in 19 languages

Mac and Windows compatible –

Supports Windows XP, Vista and 7 –

Supports Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6

You can store secure copies of your files – regardless of size – online for easy access from any computer.

Overall, I was impressed with Dmailer’s functionality – it’s easy, it’s fast, and you have access to the online storage function from any Internet connection. Should you need to, the fee online storage can be increased from the 2 GB level, for a fee.

Note: Do not launch the application from the .zip folder – I made that mistake. Instead, copy/move it first to its permanent location on disk.

System requirements: Windows 7, Windows 2003, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP.

Available Languages: 18 languages including English, French, Italian,German, Spanish.

Download at: Download.com

Note: This application is also available for Mac.

Update: June 8, 2010. This morning I received an email from Anthony Gianastasio, the Product Line Manager of Dmailer, the person in charge of the Dmailer Backup product – “As I can see in the comments, you and some of your readers have some questions regarding the name “Dmailer”. Let me explain that to you.

Dmailer is a small french company, based in Marseille (Provence). We first launched  an email management application in 2001. In French “demêler” means “To sort, To organize” and it was precisely the goal of the first software of the company: help people manage their email. We just turn “Demeler” to a more English sound and it became “Dmailer”. I agree it can be confusing because our backup software has nothing to do with email, but we will add an email backup feature to the product in a near future!

Finally, as we strongly rely on our user’s feedback to improve our software, feel free to submit any ideas/suggestions you may have. We just opened a new community site for that purpose. It’s available here.”

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Handy Backup Server Edition – Free License Giveaway Contest

Handy Backup Server: Enterprise network backup software for workstation data backup.

Today’s enterprise simply couldn’t function without the automation that computers provide. It goes without saying; computers have become critical to the effective operation, and stability, of any business. System downtime then, regardless of the cause, can have lasting impact on a business’s long term viability, and reputation.

Without an effective system backup and recovery plan, an enterprise is gambling with its ability to survive in a business environment that does not forgive critical errors in planning, or strategy.

Any business which lacks an effective and systematic data recovery plan, is courting disaster, and is simply living on borrowed time.

As part of our ongoing “backup your data campaign”, we have arranged with Novosoft, to give away one free license (retail value $599 U.S.), for Handy Backup Server Edition, a backup application designed for small and medium sized businesses, with simplicity and convenience in mind.

To enter the contest, simply add a comment at the end of this article. On May 31, 2010, all comments will be added to the online List Randomizer, and the first name that appears, will win a free license for this valuable backup application.

You don’t need to write a paragraph – “enter me in the contest”, or similar, is enough. Good luck!

Read the following review and I’m sure you’ll agree, this is a contest worth entering.

Handy Backup Server enterprise network edition – the right application for those tough backup jobs.

Operating a small/medium sized business has always been a tough job. But, the unstable economy that we are all forced to content with, has made a tough job, even tougher.

The bottom line, always a major consideration, now looms ever larger in the background. But investing in the right technologies can deliver operational, and productivity efficiencies, that can flow straight to the bottom line.

Backup solutions, for example, don’t have to be a cost center. A strong and aggressive backup strategy, effectively implemented, can have a measureable effect on the bottom line by impacting positively on system administrator productivity.

Choosing the right backup solution and service provider then, has taken on a new importance. One in which cost savings can be realized through system administration productivity growth.

Handy Backup Server, from Novosoft, is a complete server-based network backup solution for small business enterprises. This application is designed to allow the user to back up and recover data stored on both central servers and remote computers, on a client-server scheme, and has multiple server-specific functions.

Workstation backup tasks can run as a service under Windows 2008/2003 Server, or Windows 7, Vista/XP/2000 seamlessly, and will not interfere  with employees’ work.

Handy Backup Server allows the enterprise to backup not only individual files and folders, but in addition, creates drive images – backups of the operating system and all applications.

All workstation backup tasks are fully automated, and run with low system priority – making it easy to perform backup tasks during operational hours.

A  Comprehensive user interface provides easy, step-by-step, adjustment of network backup – including compression, encryption and flexible task scheduling options. E-mail notifications, command line interface, and log file generation, makes the system administrator’s  task management easy and efficient.

As well as file, folder and HDD imaging, this application features plug-ins for backing up MS Exchange, MS SQL, DB2 databases and Lotus Notes/Domino data, stored on the central server.

Additionally, the user can back up Oracle database and ODBC-compatible databases, which can be located on both a local server, and remote workstations.

Data transferred to the central server can be stored on the widest range of backup media: the user can backup to FTP, SFTP, Network, FireWire and USB hard/flash drives, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD and much more. Detailed online help is available.

Centralized workstation backup and fast system recovery ability, distinguish Handy Backup Server from other network backup software. Handy Backup Server carries the “Certified for Windows Vista” and “Works with Windows Server 2008″ logos, and is acknowledged as one of the best tools for backup and recovery of the entire office network, or local server.

Fast facts:

Image backup – snapshot of entire hard drive contents including all programs and data files

Hot database backup through ODBC protocol

Backup of Lotus Notes/Domino databases

MS Exchange Server Backup

Client-server network backup – centralized workstation backup managed by one enterprise backup server

Backup of email directly from the server

Support for backup to CD-R/CD-RW, backup to DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD media; remote FTP backup, secure SFTP backup; local and network drives; ZIP, JAZ, MO; flash drives; HDD and floppy disks, USB drive

Registry Backup

Data Restore

ICQ Backup plug-in

128-bit encryption support

E-mail notification on operation results

System requirements: Windows 2008/2003 Server, and Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000.

For additional information on Handy Backup Server edition, please visit the official website.

In the meantime, you can download a full-featured 30-day trial by clicking on the following link: Download Handy Backup 30 day trial

Note: A number of our regular readers are Handy Backup users and consistently report excellent results with this application.

About Novosoft:

Novosoft LLC was established in 1992. Over the years Novosoft has established an excellent reputation and the recognition of users worldwide. Today, Novosoft LLC is a prominent developer of computer and server backup software for both home users and small and middle-sized enterprises.

The key products of the company include three major editions meeting every user’s needs: Handy Backup Standard, Handy Backup Professional and Handy Backup Server.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Handy Backup Server Contest – The Winner is…

I’m happy to announce the winner of the free $599 U.S. license, for Handy Backup Server enterprise network edition, a superior enterprise grade backup application.

Congratulations to the winner: Aaron G. Sword

Aaron has received notification directly. Thank you, to all those who participated.

Just a reminder – we are currently running a contest for 10 free licenses for PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus. Click on the link, and get your entry in for this terrific anti-malware application.

If you are not a winner, you can of course, download a a fully functional 30 day trial, of Handy Backup Server enterprise network edition.

Why Handy Backup Server enterprise network edition, is the right application for those tough backup jobs.

Operating a small/medium sized business has always been a tough job. But, the unstable economy that we are all forced to content with, has made a tough job, even tougher.

The bottom line, always a major consideration, now looms ever larger in the background. But investing in the right technologies can deliver operational, and productivity efficiencies, that can flow straight to the bottom line.

Backup solutions, for example, don’t have to be a cost center. A strong and aggressive backup strategy, effectively implemented, can have a measureable effect on the bottom line by impacting positively on system administrator productivity.

Choosing the right backup solution and service provider then, has taken on a new importance. One in which cost savings can be realized through system administration productivity growth.

Handy Backup Server, from Novosoft, is a complete server-based network backup solution for small business enterprises. This application is designed to allow the user to back up and recover data stored on both central servers and remote computers, on a client-server scheme, and has multiple server-specific functions.

Workstation backup tasks can run as a service under Windows 2008/2003 Server, or Vista/XP/2000 seamlessly, and will not interfere  with employees’ work.

Handy Backup Server allows the enterprise to backup not only individual files and folders, but in addition, creates drive images – backups of the operating system and all applications.

All workstation backup tasks are fully automated, and run with low system priority – making it easy to perform backup tasks during operational hours.

A  Comprehensive user interface provides easy, step-by-step, adjustment of network backup – including compression, encryption and flexible task scheduling options. E-mail notifications, command line interface, and log file generation, makes the system administrator’s  task management easy and efficient.

As well as file, folder and HDD imaging, this application features plug-ins for backing up MS Exchange, MS SQL, DB2 databases and Lotus Notes/Domino data, stored on the central server. Additionally, the user can back up Oracle database and ODBC-compatible databases, which can be located on both a local server, and remote workstations.

Data transferred to the central server can be stored on the widest range of backup media: the user can backup to FTP, SFTP, Network, FireWire and USB hard/flash drives, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD and much more. Detailed online help is available.

Centralized workstation backup and fast system recovery ability, distinguish Handy Backup Server from other network backup software. Handy Backup Server carries the “Certified for Windows Vista” and “Works with Windows Server 2008″ logos and is acknowledged as one of the best tools for backup and recovery of the entire office network, or local server.

Fast facts:

Image backup – snapshot of entire hard drive contents including all programs and data files

Hot database backup through ODBC protocol

Backup of Lotus Notes/Domino databases

MS Exchange Server Backup

Client-server network backup – centralized workstation backup managed by one enterprise backup server

Backup of email directly from the server

Support for backup to CD-R/CD-RW, backup to DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD media; remote FTP backup, secure SFTP backup; local and network drives; ZIP, JAZ, MO; flash drives; HDD and floppy disks, USB drive

Registry Backup

Data Restore

ICQ Backup plug-in

128-bit encryption support

E-mail notification on operation results

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista

You can download a full-featured 30-day trial by clicking on the following link:

Download Handy Backup 30 day trial

If you enjoyed this article, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Last Call: Handy Backup Server Edition Free License

Handy Backup Server – Enterprise network backup software for workstation data backup.

As part of our continuing “backup your data campaign”, we have arranged with Novosoft, to give away one free license (retail value $599 U.S.), for Handy Backup Server Edition.

To enter the contest, simply add a comment at the end of this article. On December 16, 2009, all comments will be added to the online List Randomizer, and the first name that comes up, will win a free license for this terrific backup application.

You don’t need to write a paragraph – “enter me in the contest”, or similar, is enough. Good luck!

Regular readers please note – this article was last posted November 29, 2009.

Why Handy Backup Server enterprise network edition, is the right application for those tough backup jobs.

Operating a small/medium sized business has always been a tough job. But, the unstable economy that we are all forced to content with, has made a tough job, even tougher.

The bottom line, always a major consideration, now looms ever larger in the background. But investing in the right technologies can deliver operational, and productivity efficiencies, that can flow straight to the bottom line.

Backup solutions, for example, don’t have to be a cost center. A strong and aggressive backup strategy, effectively implemented, can have a measureable effect on the bottom line by impacting positively on system administrator productivity.

Choosing the right backup solution and service provider then, has taken on a new importance. One in which cost savings can be realized through system administration productivity growth.

Handy Backup Server, from Novosoft, is a complete server-based network backup solution for small business enterprises. This application is designed to allow the user to back up and recover data stored on both central servers and remote computers, on a client-server scheme, and has multiple server-specific functions.

Workstation backup tasks can run as a service under Windows 2008/2003 Server, or Vista/XP/2000 seamlessly, and will not interfere  with employees’ work.

Handy Backup Server allows the enterprise to backup not only individual files and folders, but in addition, creates drive images – backups of the operating system and all applications.

All workstation backup tasks are fully automated, and run with low system priority – making it easy to perform backup tasks during operational hours.

A  Comprehensive user interface provides easy, step-by-step, adjustment of network backup – including compression, encryption and flexible task scheduling options. E-mail notifications, command line interface, and log file generation, makes the system administrator’s  task management easy and efficient.

As well as file, folder and HDD imaging, this application features plug-ins for backing up MS Exchange, MS SQL, DB2 databases and Lotus Notes/Domino data, stored on the central server. Additionally, the user can back up Oracle database and ODBC-compatible databases, which can be located on both a local server, and remote workstations.

Data transferred to the central server can be stored on the widest range of backup media: the user can backup to FTP, SFTP, Network, FireWire and USB hard/flash drives, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD and much more. Detailed online help is available.

Centralized workstation backup and fast system recovery ability, distinguish Handy Backup Server from other network backup software. Handy Backup Server carries the “Certified for Windows Vista” and “Works with Windows Server 2008″ logos and is acknowledged as one of the best tools for backup and recovery of the entire office network, or local server.

Fast facts:

Image backup – snapshot of entire hard drive contents including all programs and data files

Hot database backup through ODBC protocol

Backup of Lotus Notes/Domino databases

MS Exchange Server Backup

Client-server network backup – centralized workstation backup managed by one enterprise backup server

Backup of email directly from the server

Support for backup to CD-R/CD-RW, backup to DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD media; remote FTP backup, secure SFTP backup; local and network drives; ZIP, JAZ, MO; flash drives; HDD and floppy disks, USB drive

Registry Backup

Data Restore

ICQ Backup plug-in

128-bit encryption support

E-mail notification on operation results

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista

You can download a full-featured 30-day trial by clicking on the following link:

Download Handy Backup 30 day trial

If you enjoyed this article, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Handy Backup Contest – And the Winners Are…..

I’m happy to announce the 2 winners of a free license for Handy Backup, a  superior backup application that is easy to setup, customize and run, for both less experienced and expert users alike.

Congratulations to the winners:

Susan – entered the contest on October 29, 2009.

Marie Elena – entered the contest on November 14, 2009.

The winners have been notified by email. If you weren’t one of the lucky winners, you can test drive this great application for 30 days by downloading Handy Backup at Download Handy Backup.

After reading the following review of Handy Backup, which has been referred to as the “Swiss Army Knife of backups”, I’m sure you’ll agree, this is a backup application worth checking out.

Handy Backup Review:

Your computer setup is a reflection of you. Sure, everyone has their documents folder, their pictures folder, their office applications – but that’s where most similarities end. Think about it, your Photoshop settings, IM tweaks, browser preferences… everything is set up just the way you like it.

Most backup software treats your data like big, faceless chunks of memory. They perform brute backups of your hard drive without regard to the fact that you did, really, truly, have things just the way you liked them!

Handy Backup includes plug-ins for all of the popular programs (such as Outlook and Windows Mail), and if you don’t see what you need, you can actually create your own plug-in (as an XML specification) for that special app.

Out of the box, Handy Backup is ready to go to work safeguarding your data, documents, photos, browser bookmarks, and email messages – either in a run-once situation, or as scheduled event. Your options include the ability to backup to local media, such as a CD, or to offsite storage on a secure FTP site.

As if backing up to local media, local servers, and offsite locations weren’t enough, all users of Handy Backup can also take advantage of the Novosoft Remote Backup Service. Think of it as super-duper-remote-always-on backup, with unlimited storage in a highly secure web server that’s fortified against technological and natural disasters, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Handy Backup lets you:

Perform run-once and scheduled backups of your entire hard drive or selected directories.

Use free plug-ins that backup and restore the unique profile settings of the most popular applications.

Backup to local media, local servers, offsite servers, or the Novosoft Remote Backup Service.

Who Needs Handy Backup? You do if you’ve ever:

Had to recover data from backup, but then had to manually reset all of the settings for your applications.

Wanted to take advantage of the larger storage capabilities of DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD media.

System requirements: Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000, Windows XP

You can download a full-featured 30-days trial by clicking the following link:

Download Handy Backup

Stay tuned – in the next few weeks we will be reviewing the enterprise version of this application – Handy Backup Server. At that time, a free license (retail value $599), will be offered in a similar contest give away.

Update – November 16, 2009: The winners have responded as follows –

Maria Elena – Gotta be a joke or scam cause I am 62 years old and never won a thing in my life!  If not thank you ever so much.

Susan – Wow! Fantastic news! Your blog is extremely valuable all on its own, so this is truly icing on the cake.

Another comment from Maria Elena – 🙂 :p Thank you thank you thank you. I really could use this as I have never been able to back up my system with the back up that is on the computer. I hate formatting my hard drive. Thank you my first prize!

If you enjoyed this article, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.

Don’t Back Up Your Hard Drive – What Have You Got To Lose?

Today’s computers are amazing, especially when you consider the processing power available, and the amount of storage you can have for incredibly little money.

You can easily build a $500 desktop computer today that has a multi-core processor, and a terabyte of storage, which has the power to edit video, or play graphic intensive video games.

But whether you’re running a $7000 custom high end gaming machine, or a $399 special from a sale at the local retailer the most important and precious thing in your computer is your data. Data is everything, it’s your kids baby pictures or your entire music collection.

The problem with data is, even though it’s the most important thing on your hard drive, it’s frequently the least considered. To protect your data generally isn’t very hard, but its very easy to put off. People rationalize that since the hard drive from that Windows 95 machine still runs that their current machine will be fine for now and I’ll just do that backup next week when I have time.

Unfortunately just when you least expect it, your hard drive crashes the night before you finished the report your boss wanted first thing in the morning or you lose the pictures of family members that can’t be replaced.

So now you know, backing up isn’t an option.  Backing up isn’t hard, and it doesn’t need to be complicated. If you’ve never backed up before it can be as simple as buying an external hard drive, or even a large thumb drive, and dragging your important files over to the external drive periodically.

Saving your important files to a external drive is the first step. The next step will be to implement an automated system of backing up at least once a week. For that you need software.

If you are running Windows Vista and you want to keep it simple the built in “Backup and Restore Center“ will help you set up weekly backups of all your important data. It’s very simple and works well, I’ve successfully used it to back up and restore all the important data on my daughters computer after a disaster.

For a more thorough backup solutions I prefer third party programs. Acronis True Image Home, is an excellent program. It has more capabilities that many users may want but it has the capability to make an entire image of your hard drive as well as do incremental backups periodically, afterward.

Programs that create an image, allow you to take the hard drive you backed up on, and put it in you machine and boot up like nothing ever happened. It saves your operating system, all of your programs, your settings and your data. The new version of Acronis has great new feature, it will perform dual backups to both a disk and hard drive at the same time.

This leads me to my last point, backing up to more than one location is very important. A simple solutions is to use two separate external hard drives, swap out one and backup to the second while you keep the other off site. This could be at work, at a friends house or anywhere away from your home.

Another effective off site backup is to do a backup to an online service of some kind. Microsoft offers a free 5 gigabyte storage service called “Skydrive” available to anyone with a Windows Live account. Amazon S3 service is another reliable online backup service, S3 isn’t free but you pay only for the space you use unlike some flat rate services.

Backing up is necessary inconvenience, developing a routine that fits your needs will make it relatively painless, and some day it will save you a lot of heartache. Remember there are two kinds of hard drives, those that have failed and those that will fail.

Many people get serious about backing up only, after they’ve lost all the pictures or music on their hard drive. There are many very good programs for backing up, either to local storage, or to an online service. I mentioned two which I’ve had experience with and trust, but there are many very good ones out there.

One last point.Some people using a new online backup services which offered “free” online storage from relatively new and unknown companies suddenly got a surprise when their online storage recently went offline forever, leaving them with no backup at all. So staying with companies like Amazon for your online “cloud” storage feels like a safe bet.

So backup early and often, because it’s all about the data.

This is a guest post by Mark Schneider of the Techwalker Blog, who brings a background as a high level super user, to the blogging world. Mark has written this article to emphasize the importance of data back up on a regular and consistent basis.

Why not pay a visit to Mark’s site today.

Hard Drive Back Up – It’s All About the Data

This is a guest post by Mark Schneider of the Techwalker Blog, who brings a background as a high level super user, to the blogging world. Mark has written this article to emphasize the importance of data back up on a regular and consistent basis.

Why not pay a visit to Mark’s site today.

Today’s computers are amazing, especially when you consider the processing power available, and the amount of storage you can have for incredibly little money. You can easily build a $500 desktop computer today that has a multi-core processor, and a terabyte of storage, which has the power to edit video, or play graphic intensive video games.

But whether you’re running a $7000 custom high end gaming machine, or a $399 special from a sale at the local retailer the most important and precious thing in your computer is your data. Data is everything, it’s your kids baby pictures or your entire music collection.

The problem with data is, even though it’s the most important thing on your hard drive, it’s frequently the least considered. To protect your data generally isn’t very hard, but its very easy to put off. People rationalize that since the hard drive from that Windows 95 machine still runs that their current machine will be fine for now and I’ll just do that backup next week when I have time.

Unfortunately just when you least expect it, your hard drive crashes the night before you finished the report your boss wanted first thing in the morning or you lose the pictures of family members that can’t be replaced.

So now you know, backing up isn’t an option.  Backing up isn’t hard, and it doesn’t need to be complicated. If you’ve never backed up before it can be as simple as buying an external hard drive, or even a large thumb drive, and dragging your important files over to the external drive periodically.

Saving your important files to a external drive is the first step. The next step will be to implement an automated system of backing up at least once a week. For that you need software. If you are running Windows Vista and you want to keep it simple the built in “Backup and Restore Center“ will help you set up weekly backups of all your important data. It’s very simple and works well, I’ve successfully used it to back up and restore all the important data on my daughters computer after a disaster.

For a more thorough backup solutions I prefer third party programs. Acronis True Image Home, is an excellent program. It has more capabilities that many users may want but it has the capability to make an entire image of your hard drive as well as do incremental backups periodically, afterward.

Programs that create an image, allow you to take the hard drive you backed up on, and put it in you machine and boot up like nothing ever happened. It saves your operating system, all of your programs, your settings and your data. The new version of Acronis has great new feature, it will perform dual backups to both a disk and hard drive at the same time.

This leads me to my last point, backing up to more than one location is very important. A simple solutions is to use two separate external hard drives, swap out one and backup to the second while you keep the other off site. This could be at work, at a friends house or anywhere away from your home.

Another effective off site backup is to do a backup to an online service of some kind. Microsoft offers a free 5 gigabyte storage service called “Skydrive” available to anyone with a Windows Live account. Amazon S3 service is another reliable online backup service, S3 isn’t free but you pay only for the space you use unlike some flat rate services.

Backing up is necessary inconvenience, developing a routine that fits your needs will make it relatively painless, and some day it will save you a lot of heartache. Remember there are two kinds of hard drives, those that have failed and those that will fail.

Many people get serious about backing up only, after they’ve lost all the pictures or music on their hard drive. There are many very good programs for backing up, either to local storage, or to an online service. I mentioned two which I’ve had experience with and trust, but there are many very good ones out there.

One last point.Some people using a new online backup services which offered “free” online storage from relatively new and unknown companies suddenly got a surprise when their online storage recently went offline forever, leaving them with no backup at all. So staying with companies like Amazon for your online “cloud” storage feels like a safe bet.

So backup early and often, because it’s all about the data.

Free System Protect Stops Accidental File Deletions

Earlier this year, I was talking to a friend whose teenagers had deleted all of the family photos to make room on the Hard Drive so that they could download a peer to peer movie. A perfect opportunity for a parent to go nuclear, I think!

Fortunately, I had convinced him sometime before this that all important data on the family computer needed to be backed up regularly. Not all of my friends have paid attention to this advice, but this one had.

While he was still disturbed that the photo files had been erased, this incident wasn’t the disaster it could have been.

So what about you? Do you have a disaster recovery plan in effect should this type of event, where you lose irreplaceable data, occurs with your computer? Or, have you considered locking specific files on your computer to prevent accidental deletion?

Backup:

It’s now easier than ever to backup giving the large choice of relatively inexpensive media, including CDs, DVDs, USB sticks, external Hard Drives, and increasingly gaining popularity, Online Backup Services. Some estimates indicate that up to 75% of all computers will connect to online backup services within 10 years.

Mozy, which requires a broadband connection, is a free and easy to use online backup service that gives you 2GB of space allowing you to backup your data over the Internet. When needed, the backed up files can be restored over the Internet. You can read a review of this program and other online backup services on this Blog, or download the application at Mozy.

MyBloop, which was recommended to me by one of my online friends, is another free and easy to use online backup service. This free service offers unlimited file storage, allows you to share your files, and gives you the option of creating play lists of your uploaded music files.

Alternatively, you can back up to your media using a freeware program such as DriveImage XML which runs under Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. This program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS. You can read a review of this program on this Blog, or download the application at Runtime.org.

Another Freeware Solution:

Nothing of course, beats a regularly scheduled incremental back up plan, but there is another solution to prevent the accidental deletion of data from your computer.

System Protect is a free, easy-to-use application from Crawler (the people who gave us Spyware Terminator), that helps keep your operating system stable, and protects important programs, documents and files from deletion caused by viruses, other users on your computer, or even your own mistakes.

Quick Facts:

Files & Folders Protection – prevents deletion of important files, programs and documents

Protection of Selected Files – lets you choose files and folders to be protected. This ensures that a virus, other people working with your computer or even you won’t delete an important document, your favorite photos, music, movies or other files

Increased Operating System Stability – protects essential system files to keep your operating system stable

Deletion Attempt Notification – notifies you of any attempt to delete any of the protected files

Protection for All Users – ensures protection for all computer users; administrator or restricted user

Works without Distracting You – silently protects your computer without interrupting your work

Deny Mode – automatically block deletion of any protected file

Since mistakes are inevitable on a computer, this neat little program could be just the thing you need to reduce the chances of having to deal with that unrecoverable error.

Download at: Download.com