Guide for creating backup versions of files.

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Backing up data is a very good idea. It is very easy to misplace or delete important files. Therefore to ensure that your files are both safe and can be found easily it is smart to store them in multiple locations where you will be able to retrieve them easily.

Backup Methods

There are several different ways of backing up data, the following is a list of a few simple ways along with some advantages:

Backing up to an external hard drive. An external hard drive can be small and portable such as a flashdrive or mp3 player, or it can be larger in order to offer a lot of storage capacity. Using external hard drives allows you to have a backup copy of your important files in an easy to access location which you can access if your computer hard drive stops working.
- Backing up files onto an external hard drive is fairly easy, in most cases it can simply be plugged into the computers USB port. After it is recognized you can go to my computer by pressing the windows logo+E key's, or simply by going to start>>my computer (on Mac computers the hard drive should appear as an icon on the desktop), once there you should see the new hard drive as an icon for the new hard drive. Double click to open it up. Once the new window opens any files you wish to save can be simply dragged into the new window. The files will then be copied to the external hard drive where they will be stored until you remove them, or the external hard drive dies.
Backing up to a CD. A CD-R/DVD-R (or RW) offers a secure external storage space to back data up to. CD's are reliable, and can make for easy storage of data, however, they are susceptible to scratching and environmental damage.
- The backup process is similar to that of an external harddrive. This can be done by opening by inserting a blank disk into your disk drive. You can then access it by clicking the windows logo button+E once there it will appear where your disk drive is usually located (on Mac computers the disk should appear as an icon on the desktop). Double click on the icon to open a window for the disk (Note: Formatting process may occur at this point). With the window open files can be dragged onto the disk. Note: burning software is available to make the process easier and give you more options.
Backing up to a web-mail account. Using web-mail (such as gmail, outlook live, yahoo, ect.) is a easy way to transport and secure small amounts of information such as a few documents or pictures. This keeps it safe from any hard drive it is accessed on and is only reliant on the mail client's servers. It is able to be accessed easily anywhere you have internet access.
- This form of data backup is simple, documents can be sent through email to your own or someone else's mail account if you so choose. Documents can be sent in an email via the "attachment" function of the web-mail (Note: some mail servers allow you to send file types that others will not), the file can be found by browsing the computer and selecting it.