Safeguarding Your Data – Part 2

Common Mistakes In Securing Data
Local Email: If you use Outlook express, or Outlook your email files are stored locally on your computer and are not kept on the internet. Unfortunately, the email files and your address book are not normally stored under your My Documents folder. This quite commonly results in the email files not being backed up and when a disk failure occurs all email is lost. You can locate where these files are by searching for *.dbx (in the case of outlook express) and *.pst (in the case of Outlook). There are various free backup tools available on the internet and if you drop me an email at  I will send you a link to one of these utilities.

Too Little Too Late
Quite often when I ask for a copy of the backup I am handed a usb key as the only backup for a computer. Bottom line – A usb key, no matter how big, is highly unlikely to be able to secure your data. In my opinion, while better than nothing, these devices give a false sense of security. I would liken them to having a bucket of water in the house in case of a fire. Better than nothing but in the end of limited use if a serious fire breaks out.
If you want to ensure that you can recover from a serious computer failure and be able to restore your music, video, pictures, and documents you must invest in a proper external hard disk and use it !

No Recovery DVD’s
One of the most common mistakes is not generating your recovery dvd’s. Most, if not all, computers shipped in the last five years come with this facility but you must generate the dvd’s. Given a set of these DVD’s and a solid backup your chances of recovering from a serious problem are extremely good.

Conclusion: It’s a fact that your trusty hi-tech gizmo will fail in the future. By taking some simple steps now and spending a small amount of money you can significantly reduce the effect that failure has on you.  It’s in your hands – Good Luck!