was: <VV> computer geek help - backups No Corvair

[Bryan Blackwell]

Hi Folks,

Most folks don't realize until it happens - the most valuable part of  
your computer is the data.  With DVD and CD burners and cheap flash  
drives, there are quite a few options for backups.  There are also  
reasonable packages for doing backups - even a Sync program will work  
(I use Chronosync for Macs and SyncToy for Windows to do quicky  
backups to a $10 flash drive).  If you can output to PDF, that is an  
ideal way to archive things that are important (e.g. tax returns)  
that you may wish to read after the software is gone.  Keep in mind  
that a mirror is *not* the same as a backup.  If a glitch wipes out  
your mirrored hard drives, you now have two useless drives.  For  
extra credit, consider keeping a CD/DVD copy of your files at another  
location (mail to a relative, drawer at work, etc.) and update that  
every quarter.

--Bryan

On Oct 19, 2007, at 10:41 PM, Charles Lee wrote:

> I backed up most of my stuff, so I didn't lose anything except  
> little things I didn't think were important (but now wish I had,  
> like my Outlook address book).