Your computer houses thousands of photos, hundreds of songs, and important documents that contain evidence of your daily life. However, it comes with a significant risk: when the hard drive goes belly up, a virus infects the files, or you drop the laptop, and it hits the floor, the stored information is lost. The computer could also be stolen, stolen and recovered by the police, or stolen by someone who has access to your computer.
Did you know that a recent backup of your data would have changed that minor annoyance into an unfathomable loss despite these internal and external threats? The chance that your computer could be damaged or your data corrupted is exceptionally high, so you should be sure to back up your PC regularly to ensure that you have at least one other copy of your important files.
Fortunately, there are more backup solutions than ever, so it’s never been easier. You don’t even have to go to a computer shop to recover them manually.
For Starters, Know These Proper Terms
Restore: Restoring copies of backed-up files onto your computer. A periodic data restore is always a good idea, no matter which of these backup methods you select. You don’t want to find out that a backup data set is unusable when you need it and have to spend extra cash going to a computer shop for recovery.
- Source and target: The source for a backup operation is where you’ve stored your files — either on a local drive or in the cloud. The destination for your backed-up files is an external hard drive, cloud storage or a network share.
- File vs full system backup: Most backup applications copy only the files you have created to the target device. A system backup goes farther and simulates applications, the operating system and related configurations to the target device.
- On the other hand, a complete system backup allows you to recreate your entire system after a catastrophic loss, but you need special software to handle this kind of backup.
- Full vs incremental backups: Full and incremental backups are two different methods. A full backup copies all the files in designated folders — new, modified or old — every time, while incremental backups copy only new or changed files since the last backup, based on the file history. This option reduces the time it takes to complete the backup process and reduces storage space.
- Native vs proprietary backup file: Simply copying a file or group of files from your PC to another device will render them unchanged. But if you use backup software to back up your data, the app might use a proprietary format to store the data, which means you’ll need the app to restore any data.
Then, You Can Backup
You can back up only data files or your entire system, and what to back up depends on the backup application you’re using: locally installed software or a cloud backup service.
Locally Installed Software
- If you use locally installed software to do your backup, be sure it can perform a full system restore. Otherwise, you’ll have to take it to a computer shop for professional restoration.
- Another good idea is to create an inventory of your stored data, including any data files created by applications.
- You also should include photos, music and videos in your inventory.
Cloud Backup Service
- Using online backup as your backup target means data has to travel over the Internet to get it off-site. This option may take a little longer, but it’s better than losing all your backups and having to go to a computer shop to recover them.
In Closing
In this era, when technology is driving our lives forward, it is now essential to have a backup plan. We have listed several ways to back up your data. Select the one that you are most comfortable with and start protecting your valuable data. One will surely fit your needs and help you if your data is lost.
While waiting for part two, don’t just go to any computer shop in Barnsley for file restorations. Visit Stephensons IT Support Solutions! We deliver the best-in-sector IT support and digital marketing services. We’re a trusted local business – and whether you need a speedy fix for a broken laptop or want to partner with a company that can maintain your infrastructure and digital presence – you’ll find all the services you need right here, under one roof!