Make Backups of important Files and Folders
 

Whether you know it or not, you’ve divided everything you own into two broad categories: those items you can replace and those you can’t. For the items you can’t replace, you’ve probably stored them in a safe place, either somewhere in your living space or elsewhere, in a lockbox at a bank, for example. In either case, you’ve probably also bought insurance that provides the funds you’d need to buy replacements. Your insurance policy covers almost everything you own. On your home computer, have you similarly divided everything into the same categories? What have you done about the items – files in this case – that you can’t replace? Examples are the files that make up your checking account records, that novel you’ve been writing for the past few years, and those pictures you took last summer with your digital camera. What happens if your computer malfunctions or is destroyed by a successful attacker? Are those files gone forever? Now think about your car for a moment. Do you have a spare tire? Is it inflated? When was the last time you used it? Can you imagine buying a car without a spare tire? Even if you bought a used car without a spare, how soon did you buy a spare so that you’d have one when you needed it? Think back to your home computer. Do you have a “spare tire,” meaning a way to continue computing when you have a “blowout” caused by a malfunction or an intruder? Said another way, can you back up your files onto some other media so that you can recover them if you need to? If you’d never buy a car without a spare tire, why did you buy a computer without a device to back up your files? When deciding what to do about backing up files on your computer, ask these questions:   The Files question: What files should you back up? The files you select are those that you can neither easily recreate nor reinstall from somewhere else, such as the CD-ROMs or the floppy disks that came with your computer. Be realistic. That check register you printed does not constitute a backup from which you can easily recreate the files needed by your checking account program. You’re probably not going to re-enter all that data if the files are destroyed. Just as you protect your irreplaceable valuables, back up the files you cannot replace, easily or otherwise.   The Often question: How often should you back them up? In the best of all cases, you should back up a file every time it changes. If you don’t, you’ll have to reintroduce all the changes that happened since your last backup. Just as you store your precious jewelry in a lockbox at the local bank lest the lucky robber find it in your jewelry box, you need to store your files safely (back them up) after every use (change in the file) lest an intruder destroys the file or there’s a system catastrophe.   The Media question: Where should you back them up to; that is, what media should you use to hold backed up files? The answer is: whatever you have. It’s a question of how many of that media you have to use and how convenient it is. For example, most computers have a floppy disk drive. You could back up your irreplaceable files to floppies. That process just takes lots of time and may not be as convenient as using another media. Larger capacity removable disk drives and writable CD-ROMs also work well, take less time, and are more convenient. If you don’t have a backup device, there are alternatives. There are Internet services that let you back up your files to another Internet computer. Some of these services provide “transparent access” to the backups. That is, they look like another hard drive attached to your computer. You use the file copy scheme that your computer provides to back up files and recover them from backed up storage. To find these services, do some Internet searches using your browser. Remember that the information you transfer across the Internet could be viewed and captured by others; that is, the information is in the clear. Be sensitive to that if you use an Internet-based backup computer. In addition, you need to be able to trust the information when you recover a file from that service.   The Store question: Where should you store that media once it contains your backed up files? No matter how you back up your files, you need to be concerned about where those backed up copies live. You already know that intruders try to break into your home computer to gain access to your files and your computer’s resources. Another way to gain access to the same information is by stealing your backups. It is more difficult, though, since a robber must physically be where your backups are, whereas an intruder can access your home computer from literally anywhere in the world. The key is to know where the media is that contains your backed up files. Just like important papers stored in a fireproof container at your house, you also need to be concerned about your backups being destroyed if your living space is destroyed or damaged. This means that you ought to keep a copy of your backed up files in a fireproof container or somewhere beyond your living space, your office for example. It is the eternal compromise between security and usability. If you need to recover a file and the backed up copies are at the office, that’s inconvenient. However, while storing them at home is more convenient and more usable, they share the same risks that your computer faces should your living space be destroyed. Be aware of the issues and make a conscious decision, perhaps keeping copies in both places. If you have that spare tire for your car or a lockbox for your valuables, you’ve already planned for the worst that can happen around your living space. Continue that good practice by backing up your critical files onto media that you can safely store elsewhere. Do those backups often enough that you can capture the changes you’ve made. With the FOMS questions, you have a structured approach to use to back up your critical files. You’ve now planned for the worst. As you computerize the routine aspects of your daily life, making backup copies of important files and folders becomes critical. Even if you can’t store the backup copies in a fireproof container or somewhere outside your home, make backups anyway. Any backup is better than none.