Original, not a copy

Last year at this time I ran an article about backing up your data. I covered the basics, reminding you that 3 is the key, 1^st is the original, 2^nd is the copy, and 3^rd is the copy off site. Some of you understood this, and others were a bit confused. Let’s recap;

Original, not a copy

The original is the media that was created, a word document, a photo, a music file, whatever it is; there must be a place that it resides, on your phone, tablet or PC. This is usually always kept on the device that created it. But by keeping the original, if you lose it, it is gone. So you need a copy of the original, but how many? Three copies would be sufficient, but in some cases more, as in photography, most people take the original and several copies as to manipulate or edit, it that is not good, they can always go back to the original copy. So as a general rule 2 copies of the original.

Copied, not original

So the original is on your device, copy it twice, place one copy on an external drive of choice, say a 1 Terabyte external drive, then take the 2^nd copy and place it in the cloud, drop box, carbonite, One drive, wherever you have the space. This sounds funny to some, now I have 3 copies, of one photo, why so many extra? Your tablet gets stolen, your phone gets wet, the laptop died, even if the original was copied to all those devices, and you lost them, you still have the external drive, and if that gets lost or damaged, they are in the cloud, on the web, you can get that data back from anywhere you can get internet. Why all the fuss you wonder. When you have to hear someone like me tell you “You just lost all of your data, did you back it up?” would you rather smile in confidence, or cry with regret.

Off site, not at home

This should be self-explanatory, I kept the original on my laptop, copied it to a flash drive and put it in my dresser drawer, and the 3^rd copy I put in carbonite on the web, or another drive that my friend or parents keep safe. Yes, unfortunately this is going to be a task, a redundant task. But your diligence will give you peace of mind if the unexpected should occur. Also, as a side note, depending on just how much data you have, and its worth, will dictate how much space you would need in the cloud, and how costly it would be. To save costs you could get 2 external drives keep one with Mom, the other in a safe deposit box.  This system works only if you update all the external drives on a regular schedule. Missing months or even a year in between data backups will result in major data loss.  Hunt Technology offers Counseling Services, we can teach you how to back up your data, keep it safe, and show you alternatives for storage. Thanks for reading, and keep your PC safe and your family safer. Remember at “Hunt Technology”, you always get “Quality Service & Individual Attention” you deserve.

Hunt Technology, 320 Watson St., Ripon WI, 920-290-0936