Computer Mentor – Healthy Computer

If you haven’t tried to turn on your computer one morning only to get a blank screen or a bunch of error codes described as a “fatal” error, then you probably have never owned a computer. The death of a computer can truly be a terrifying experience for the unprepared and uninitiated. For the unfortunates whose computer has indeed put forth its last bit of data transfer, knowing there is no hope of recovery can bring almost anyone to the brink of suicide. If you happen to be in this group, why on earth haven’t you thought about offsite data backup?

Let’s face it – remembering to back up our computer is a real pain. For those of us who have even done the right thing by at least buying an external hard drive on which to put our backed up files, even this can become a cumbersome task that is always left till… Well… Never.

And of course, that lovely shiny external hard drive sitting across from us usually does nothing but collect dust and act as a convenient tax deduction at year end because by the time we close up shop for the day, we don’t feel like selecting what files need to be backed up and waiting around to see it happen.

And it never fails. The morning after we write a yellow sticky note and put it on our computer monitor (“do backup in AM”), that is the morning that you find out your computer died in its sleep. Too late for backups!

A backup should be secure. Sure, the external drive that is collecting dust on the other side of our home office should do the job, but it doesn’t because WE don’t do the job. Hard drives need to be fed information; they don’t absorb the data on their own, which is seemingly what thousands of people think since they buy these things and never back up files to them!

The trick is to find a way to do your backups offsite, automatically. Some companies are set up so that all you get is literally offsite storage on their servers. This may not be much help if you couldn’t find the time to back up on your own external drive; you probably won’t find the time to back up your files on anyone else’s either.

Offsite storage is an excellent alternative. For a very affordable method, get an annual membership to an online site that provides automatic regular backups that happen on their own – you don’t need to do a thing. If anything happens, all your updates and your new documents are safe. Even if your computer dies – the files can be restored to your new computer within a few hours. Get yourself a plan before it’s too late!

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