We have all been there ; we are working on that big proposal for our finals, we’re doing the finishing touches on that big project thats sure to get you that promotion, you are making the final edits for that client who is going to literally hand you a burlap bag with a money symbol-when it occurs.  It may be a hard drive crash, a power surge, a tremor or a direct slap from God I do not know-but all your work is gone and you did not back it up.  If you haven’t begun to feel that wave of icy shock and fear, then you have to prepare-because what will you do when it *does*?  I remember years back, I was finishing my final project for my 2-D Advertisement class, merely a stupid old timey rhetoric war poster.  It was raining very heavily and the thunder was getting louder, I saved my project under one or two separate titles but I wanted to have a backup-just in case.  I put my USB memory card in and did another fast save-literally a second before we had a brown out / power surge. 

That 2nd of darkness felt like a cold, numb, terrifying century.  When the light came back on and my computer commenced booting up all I could do was pray that my final was there and any damage wasn’t .  My last was on my computer, one of the saves anyhow.  The final was still intact on my USB, but 1/2 the other files were corrupted and that port was fried and has not worked since.  The hard drive itself went 2 weeks later , a week after I handed in my project.  I got fortunate, intensely fortunate.  Hopefully if it happens again I’ll be as fortunate.  But always  ‘hoping for the best’ is a very foolish course of action.  That’s’s like never wearing a helmet on a bike and hoping you can never get hurt if you hopefully don’t fall-one search on Youtube proves you will get hurt when you fall off a bike.  Hilariously though, but still I am sure smashing your face on a concrete path hurts. 

Thankfully for those that do enjoy wearing wearing helmets while using our PCs ( or making your computers clumsily wear one ), there are dozens of options to make certain our files will be safe and backed up when the time comes.  Online backup is great to store your files, however it can be prices and you are restrained by the rate of your net and the size of your information.  If you’re happy to spend the scratch, it easy and convenient and always a comfort realizing that what ever you want should be available to you at all times-as long as an internet source in close.  Which naturally it always is, I adore living in THE FUTURE. 

Still, if you have got the art of funny coincidence and karma makes a decision to say Sup? when you’re backing up your data online-your doubly %$+.  And probably awfully short of a cuddle to boot. 
To avoid that rare disaster you can go with the classic methodology of offline data storage, the external disk drive.  Prices start for as little as under twenty bucks and you can purchase one just about anywhere, it’s truthfully one of those invests you will be thankful for. 

Any PC with USB or Firewire capacity will see the external disc drive as a storage device , and allot it a letter to designate it.  Anytime you plug it in, you fundamentally just deal with it like any standard drive.  You drag and drop what you need, it’s super easy to transfer huge files back and forth from work to home, to a friend’s house, or between your desktop and laptop.  It’s particularly useful if you tend to keep large amounts of photos, music, picture, or game files on your computer too.  Just treat your external like your attic, toss everything in there that you don’t really use or need-but your hoarder instinct is too dynamic to just delete them.  This way you get to fulfill your compulsion, your personal computer runs faster, and you all of a sudden have extra space to hoard more data!  Or you can use if for critical stuff like I discussed earlier, so that in an emergency your info will remain safe.  But I understand if that doesn’t slake your need to having floor to ceiling hard drives for your LOLcat addiction .

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Whether you are a student with school work to store or just someone looking for a place to keep your numerous photos, the best online backup services have a lot to offer you. If you  just want to make space on your hard drive for something else or if you are worried about possible damage to your files, you will find that the best place to  keep them is far, far away. Since most file backup companies have bunkers which are nearly impervious to outside disasters, there really is no safer place  that you can put your important files. But finding the company that works best for you can be a bit of a challenge unless you know what to look for.

First is the price. Most online backup services are priced about the same, around per month, which you can opt to pay monthly or at the discounted annual fee. But that’s just for the basic service. You can also avail of other additional services like network backup for an added fee. On the other hand, there are also online backup services that come for free, for some companies on a limited trial basis, and for others, for a limited storage capacity. While these offers are not uncommon and are done for promotional purposes, be wary of those backup services that are offered at no cost at all. While they need not cost a lot, the online backup solutions shouldn’t come totally free or you would wonder how the company can give trustworthy service.

Getting immediate access to your files may not really be extremely important to you. For instance, if you are simply looking for a space to store your photos in, you do not always need them at a moment’s notice. Nevertheless, if you are a student or a businessman, you need a service which does not ask you to wait for a day before you can retrieve your files. Different companies provide different levels of access to the files that you store – which is why getting one which perfectly suits your needs is highly important.

And then you also have to think about the actual software that you’d need to install on your computer. Is it user-friendly enough for you? Would you have to deal with a lot of technical stuff that you’re not comfortable with. Most backup software are designed to be as simple and convenient as possible for the user but you’d need to find out which you would be most happy to work with. Remember that online backups are there to make backing up your data easier without having to go through hoops for it. The best online backup services make sure you get that.

Lastly, you need a secure service. Most companies offer encryption of your stored information as it travels between your computer and theirs. However, some companies can offer more than that. You can find companies which scatter your files across their services making it impossible for any outsider to decipher any important information. You may also choose to put a password on your files. All these added services work together to give you the top-level security that you need. But to make sure that a service is right for your needs, just read a few reviews, like the Carbonite review.

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For some people, backing up computer information does not seem very necessary. After all, they’re not bankers or government officials with millions of important information to protect. However,  personal e-mails, pictures and notes on your drives should not be taken any less seriously. Just like a banker’s file of finances, every personal file of photo or of just about anything can hold wonderful memories of you and your loved one. Losing these things may not have a great impact on anyone else but you owe it to yourself to protect these important bits of info and backup your computer. Ensuring the safety of your data is very important especially in the digital age when every person can put so much about himself on his computer.

Traditional ways of backing up one’s files have been developed over the years, and for many people, these seemed to work just fine. A widespread backup method used is buying a large stack of floppy disks or more recently CDs, copying your files into them, labeling all disks for organization and for easier retrieval when the need arises, and finally, storing away everything. You somehow manage to successfully make backup copies of your files but it took a lot of time and effort. Plus, with this method, there’s really no guarantee that a few years down the road, you’ll still have files to retrieve. This type of file storage devices are susceptible to damage caused even by the smallest amounts of water, some scratches, or exposure to magnets.

But technology has come a long way when it comes to storage space. Now, you can buy external hard drives which will plug in to almost any computer you can find and work immediately. And all of your data is organized in folders, just like on your home computer’s built-in drive. No more digging through stacks of CDs and floppies. You can also get these drives in sizes that were unheard of until recently. Some drives can hold multiple terabytes of information, more than almost anyone could possibly need. For instance one terabyte drive could store over 200,000 photos at 5 megabytes each.

The thing is though, external hard drives don’t come cheap and while it gives you a convenient way to keep your files safe, not everyone is sold out on using it. Some people think that external drives are good only for those with technical background.

For these types of computer users, a good option for ensuring that your data is safe from all possible causes of data loss would be to avail of online backup services being offered by many companies, one example of which is Carbonite online backup. With this backup method, you don’t need to be a techie because most of these online storage solutions are very user-friendly. And, you get the assurance that your data is being kept away from prying eyes using advanced encryption technology and stored in servers located in a protected area.

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You may think that data recovery from hard drive units that have experienced some kind of failure is impossible. Many people fear that when a hard drive dies, all the data on it is irrecoverable.. Fortunately, there are different kinds of failures that may make data recovery possible. Depending upon what happened to your drive, you may find the situation may have some solutions after all. But regardless of how the drive failed, there are still some things you should never do.

First – avoid attempting to repair the hard drive yourself. Do not open the sealed casing of your  hard drive. Exposing particulates can make the hard drive problem even worse. Even if you succeed in repairing the damaged piece, your hard drive can crash immediately because of its particulates which were exposed to air. Home remedies should never be tried as well. Some people attempt to freeze their hard drives. This does not fix the problem. Instead, it makes things even worse.

The first thing you should do is check to see if the hard drive is still recognized by the computer. If it is working physically, the crash may have been caused by a program or software. A virus could also be the culprit. If you can run virus scans on the drive, you may find that your files are simply corrupted and the drive is functioning fine. In addition, many drives become unreadable or crash due to file fragmentation. Running scan disk or file defragmentation programs can alleviate problems.

However, if the hard drive is making strange sounds or no longer operates at all, you may have experienced a mechanical failure. The hard drive is a very delicate piece of equipment and even the smallest things can cause damage. Data recovery from hard drive units that have had a mechanical failure should always be left to the professionals. Only those with a clean room and the right tools and knowledge can repair a drive which has been physically damaged. Note that this can cost a lot of money, many people do not put a price tag on the things they have stored on their hard drive.

Most people have to experience the woes of a hard drive crash before they finally realize the importance of backing up data.  If you do online backup now before facing the unfortunate event of having to deal with your first hard drive nightmare, you are saving yourself from wasting a lot of time, effort and thousands of dollars. While recovering information from a hard drive which just crashed remains doable, investing on a good computer backup is a practical option to consider as it saves you from having to go through the stress of data recovery.

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