The Rosson Register

I was browsing Craigslist today when I came across a post that really made me cringe: it was from a lawyer, bless his heart, offering a $2500 reward for the return of his stolen $250 laptop. On the laptop were his court files, client records, calendar, finances, and even family photos. “The contents of the laptop are worthless to everyone except me,” he says, “but my livelihood depends on it. I will handsomely reward whoever can return it to me, no questions asked, ten times the value of the computer itself.”

It’s a horrifying thing to think about: suddenly losing years worth of important files – emails, pictures, school work – with no recourse for retrieving them. Theft, however, isn’t the only way to lose data.

• Accidentally deleting or overwriting important files can be frustrating and irreversible. One wrong click, or a sneaky computer virus, and it’s all gone.

• Natural disasters can strike anyone, anywhere. Floods, fires, and electrical surges can instantly destroy your hard drive, as well as any physical backups (CDs, DVDs, hard drives) in the immediate vicinity.

• Hard drive failure is inevitable: it is not a matter of if, but when. Laptops are especially vulnerable: a drop to the floor can break one little pin and cost over $1000 to recover your files.

Years ago I watched my father spend entire days saving his files onto 3.5″ floppy disks. Then CD burners became common and the technologically inclined could save their important documents onto a few CDs in just a few hours. Today, we have a new solution that saves time, money, and lots of hassle: secure online backup.

Online backup software operates in the background on your computer and automatically secures your files on a regular basis. It detects when something has changed and adds it to your secure online backup with no user intervention required.

I personally use and strongly recommend online backup to many of my clients. Most of these programs are easy to install and set up. Some also allow you the luxury of accessing your backup files securely through their website from any computer. Restoring files from your backup is (usually) very simple: you can download the entire backup or select specific folders to retrieve.

Whatever backup solution you choose, no computer user – home or business – should be without a comprehensive backup solution. External hard drives, while not entirely secure, are available at most electronics stores and are cheaper than ever (I saw a 1 terabyte hard drive at Fry’s last week for $99). If you do use an external drive, remember to store your backup in a secure off-site location like a safe deposit box.

Data loss is inevitable: it is not a matter of if it will happen, but when.

Don’t be the Craigslist lawyer.

EDIT: Removed reference to a particular online backup site. The point is the backup, not who you do it with.