Backing Up Your Stuff Part 1: The Problem

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I don't know about your, but I depend upon my computer system daily to helpme survive and prosper.
I keep ... there:- My daily ...
My writing- Letters and memos- ... for personal an I don't know about your, but I depend upon my computer system daily to helpme survive and prosper.
I keep everything there:- My daily journals- My writing- Letters and memos- Documents for personal and work issues- FAXes- My photo album (over 10,000 photos)- Graphics art that I've produced In addition, if you are anything like me, over the years you've downloadedthousands of different things off the internet. You may also have installedsome files from CDs and floppy disks, as well as receiving numerous filesvia email.
Some of these downloads include such wondrous things as:- Paint Shop Pro tubes, brushes- Photoshop filters- desktop themes- outlook stationary- Screensavers- Wallpaper- ICQ skins and sounds- Fonts- Sounds- Videos- Innumerable other thingsIn fact, this is one of the activities that makes the internet soenjoyable - being able to download and install new features, plug-ins andcool stuff as often as you can.These files tend to take up massive amounts of space on your hard drives. Onmy system, my outlook stationary alone requires over 150 megabytes, mydesktop themes are getting close to a gigabyte and I have over 200 megabytesof Paint Shop Pro tubes.This phenomenon is made even worse because most people (myself included)never throw anything away.
I have kept just about everything that I've everput on my computer, until today I have over 100 gigabytes of lord knowswhat!Add to that yet another issue: many of us store files on remote systems.Many people use their free hosts editing tools to create and modify theirweb site files directly on the internet. The files are never downloaded totheir author's hard drive.
For example, I receive at least a couple ofemails each week from someone asking how they back up the files on Geocitiesor MSN or any number of other hosts.I used to create a backup of my entire system to a Zip drive once a week.This soon required two zip disks, then 3 and then a dozen. I switched totape, which helped for a while.
Before too long, however, I found my backupstook all night long and required several tape changes. This was getting outof hand - not only did the backup require an incredible amount of time, butthe system was slow while it was running and it was obvious that it would bevery difficult to do a restore if it became necessary.At this point, many people make the fatal decision to stop performingbackups at all.
This is not a good idea, as there are many hazards to thehealth of your computer.- Hundreds and even thousands of new viruses are created monthly. Any one ofthese could destroy your system and erase years of work.
Even if you havethe best antivirus software on the planet, there is still the possibilitythat a new virus could get through your defenses.A hacker could penetrate your firewalls (assuming you have one) and dowhatever he pleased. He could, if he wanted, delete files, modify them oreven download them to his own system.- Your system could be damaged or destroyed by more mundane threats such aswater leaking from the upstairs bathtub or mice chewing on the disk cables.- You could accidentally delete files yourself.- A new installation of a program or an operating system upgrade couldrender your system unusable.- I have heard tales of lightening striking nearby power poles and renderingsystems completely unusable.So if your system is getting so crowded that is is difficult if notimpossible to perform a full backup, what do you do to protect yourself? Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .