Sanders Media

Today, I’m here with a reminder to maintain your computer. There’s no reason you can’t get 3 to 4 very productive years out of your computer. Here are some things that will help.

1. Use compressed (canned) air to blow out your computer if you have a desktop. I would suggest you do this at least twice a year. Dust in your computer case has a nasty habit of causing computers to overheat and underperform.
2. If you leave your computer on all of the time, shut it down at least once a month.
3. Run virus and spyware cleanup software at least once a week.
4. Backup everything. I can never emphasize this enough. Yet again, I have a client who may lose her files because she didn’t back them up. External hard drive are inexpensive, and online services, like Mozy, provide unlimited space.
5. If you do all of these things, and you still have a problem, call me.

I’ve talked about backups a little in previous posts, but I thought I’d expound on it today. I can’t remember how often I get clients who need vital data recovered because their computer went haywire. Most often, they don’t have any backups. Data recovery can be expensive, while preventative measures are much cheaper.  Because digital storage is so inexpensive these days, it’s never been easier to protect your data.

The first thing to do is buy an external hard drive. I’ve seen 500GB USB 2.0 drives for as little as $89.99. Even people with large media libraries will find it difficult to fill up a 500GB drive. Also, don’t always go for the cheapest. Ask the staff at the store, as well as people you know, which drives work best. When you see multiple people having the same problem with a particular drive or manufacturer, stay away. I’ve personally had great success with Western Digital, LaCie and Seagate drives. 

CD-R and DVD+-R media is another way to backup your files. One caveat is the size of the discs. CD-R’s top out at 700MB. Single layer DVD+-R’s can hold 4.7GB of data, and dual layer discs can hold 8.5GB. Another limitation is they are write-once. Meaning you can’t add more data later unless you either use a re-writable disc or have a program that can write multiple sessions. If you’re wanting to backup specific files on a smaller scale, disc media can be a great choice.

The last backup choice I’ll talk about is online storage. It has some advantages over external hard drives and disc media. For one, you won’t have any physical hardware, if desk space is a problem. Second, you can access the data from any internet connection. Some limitations would be the need for an internet connection and the speed of that connection.

In truth, I use all three. My full system backup is on an external hard drive. I make a second backup of specific files, such as my music, on disc media. Sometimes I will make a third backup online. These multiple backups save me in case one fails. While I recommend as many backups a possible, even one full system backup can really come to your rescue. If you’re worried about remembering to do periodic backups, there are multiple programs that will perform scheduled backups that you set.

I can’t encourage you enough to backup your data. When disaster does strike, you will be hard pressed to find a better investment of your money and time.