What if your operating system wouldn't load?

Make sure you have a backup copy of your registry files. You will then be able to get into the computer in Safe Mode and replace the bad registry files with the older but good ones.  A utility program like Norton will advise you to do this when you load the program and should notify you when to do updates.  However, if you do get this kind of melt-down check below and take you back-ups files to your "trusty repair shop".

I know it is important but I haven't had any problems so far.

I cannot express enough the importance of backing up your data. The more the merrier, as they say. I do confess that I am not that diligent, but I make the effort and have the task scheduled in my to do list. From personal experiences, I have discovered five good reasons why backing up your data is important. This discovery is from personal experience – so don’t think that it won’t happen to you!

  Melt Downs
Just this year, I was sold corrupted Ram that went unnoticed for four months. By the time I knew what was happening, it was too late. If you cannot boot up your machine, get a bunch of error notices or comments that something is corrupted, stop everything and take the hard drive into your "trusty repair shop". It is worth the $50 to "just take a look". I have been lucky so far, I haven’t had a complete melt down. Yet. They were able to save almost all of my data by transferring it to another machine while they did the repair work. HOWEVER, the hard drive had to be rebuilt. Then the data was transferred back onto the machine in the appropriate files. I still had to reload all of the software onto the machine. This can be quite a core and often the software (like Real Audio) has to be downloaded form the Internet and reinstalled. (Here is another reason to put downloaded files of software into a specific file folder and back-up if you need it in the future.) If you take in your originals, your "trusty repair shop" will do it for an additional cost.

  Burglary or an Act of God
I had heard all about the dangers of crashes but never expected my first loss to be a result of my computer being stolen. This is probably the worst case scenario. Often, it takes a few days for approval from the adjuster and still you may have to purchase a machine out of your own pocket before you see any reimbursement. Then all of the new uploading has to be completed. You can be out of business for a few days easily. I recommend not only having a complete back up, mine was only two weeks old, but access to another computer. This is just one reason why, I encourage you to keep your old machine so that you have two computers available, one at the office and one at home.

  Erased Files
Sometime and somewhere, you will erase a file and not be able to recover it even with all of your wonderful utility programs.  Knowing you have a recent version backed up somewhere can be quite a relief. I have probably had to go use my back-ups at least three times for this purpose alone.

  Viruses
The reason that I bought my first anti-virus software was as a result of getting a virus on my Word documents. This virus made changes to any subsequent Word file that I opened. Eventually, I was able to repair all of the files but having a good back-up was important for ore than just my peace of mind.

  Better Filing
Here is where I like having floppies for small files and CD-ROMs for the bigger jobs. When I have completed work with a client, I put all my information and files onto a floppy, l write protect it and put it into my hard copy file. Then I throw out most of the hard copies – except for the key ones. You would be surprised how often I have had to refer to them. Some files are never used again but it seems that one or two are often referenced. Besides, if a client comes back to work with you again, you have all the historical data in one file.

What is the Best Way?

  Floppies
These disks are certainly convenient for restoring If and only if you have a small amount of data to file. Otherwise, forget it. Floppies are also the easiest to have corrupted.

  Tape and Zip Drives
Still the standard but changing quickly as hard drives get over 4 gigabytes. The cost of each tape or zip has remained high and even though you can reuse them many times, you need quite a few to ensure having two sets on the go at any time. If it is an internal machine, you need to have a compatible model to use for other machines – if the data is to be transported. In case you aren’t the best at remembering to back-ups, these machines can remember for you and do back-ups at regularly scheduled times. The drawback is that you have to remember to change the tapes and store them in a safe place. No point in having the back-up tape inside your machine if it is stolen or damaged by fire.

  CD ROM Burner
In my mind, the best choice. Besides very speedy back-ups, a CD Burner has many other uses. CD’s are very cheap – both the regular (about $1 each) and even the rerecordable ones (about $4 each). This provides flexibility. You can do a complete back up of your hard drive with just a few CD’s in a short period of time. Like the tape and zip drives, you can schedule back-ups. The only problem at the moment is that often when using a CD burner, other programs have to be closed or it won’t work properly. Consequently, I tend not to use the scheduling program and rely on my own planning. This can always be a dangerous thing. I do a complete hard drive back-up about every six weeks and back ups for changed files or archives on a bimonthly basis. (This is especially important if you value your e-mail files.)

  Storage on someone else’s server
This is another option that has some merit. You can load up quite a lot of data files that can be downloaded from anywhere else in the world – without going through e-mail. You can even share information. I have found this very useful for group work. Two examples are e-groups.com and intranets.com. You will hear me talk about these sites elsewhere when discussing interactivity. There are also sites that will provide you with space to store your data for free. I have belonged to a couple but have never used them. Why? I forget the password or what I had loaded. Unless you want to share some files over a protected network, forget this option as a back-up source.

In Summary - What kind of storage space are we talking about?

1.4 MB     -    floppies  (slow)
100 MB    -    zip drive  (fast)
400 MB    -    tape   (medium speed)
650 MB    -    CD-ROM  (very fast)

"Trusty repair shop"

Buying a new computer? Great, I would love to do this on a regular basis. There are some great deals at places like Price Club and Staples. (I personally don’t like Future Shop or Computer City, but that is my preference.) Don’t buy any extra warranties. It is a waste of your money. If there is a serious problem, it should show up in the first 90 days. Even so, they send the machine out and who knows when you will get it back. Remember that this is a major source of your business’ activities. You should be able to get it back in 24 hours as long as the hard drive isn’t completely fried.  Del machines are excellent and they have terrific tech support.  However, expect to pay a premium.

You need to find a small shop that deals with businesses. It will be like trying to find a good hairdresser, mechanic or accountant that you can trust.  It won’t be an easy task.  If they sound like they know what they are talking about –still don’t trust them. There are so many people in the computer businesses that really don’t have a clue – just a little more knowledge than you do. So ask around to people who have horror stories to tell you. I have dealt with all types of shops, both good and bad.