College of Health and Human Development

By John LaFreniere
HHD Information Technology Consultant

In the last five years I’ve needed to evacuate my house on three different occasions due to nearby fires. After ensuring the safety of our family, the first thing we did was to pack important papers and photographs containing irreplaceable memories. In this digital age, many of us keep irreplaceable pictures, movies, and documents on a computer. Without a backup! Me too. I unplugged and brought my computer with me.

I was lucky… I was given a few hours of warning to protect the most important things. Luckier still, after a few days, we were able to return to our undamaged house and re-hang our memories on the wall. And re-boot.

When a computer crashes, or the peril is something like earthquake or theft, there is no time to prepare. Advance preparation costs little, but when you have a need, you will be so glad you took the steps to protect your data. I now take the time to back up my computer and ensure that data is protected. Take it from me. I not only have to deal with my own data protection, but I have to be the one to break it to my co-workers that their data is lost. I’ve been through it enough to know what their facial expressions are going to be. Hint: It’s not good.

There are many different ways to back-up your home computer. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. In this article, I’ll help you understand common ways data is lost, and let you know about some easy and inexpensive ways to protect yourself from data loss.

Honestly, the biggest threat to your data is your inaction. All methods of data protection take some sort of advance preparation. Who has time for that? You have job demands. You have family demands. You have the latest episode of “Glee” waiting on the TiVo!

It only takes an hour or so to prepare a backup plan for your home computer. Many of the suggestions I’ll be making are free and the ones that cost anything are very inexpensive. So put “Glee” aside until next week and let’s get down to backing up. Think of it… then you get to watch two episodes in a row!

Understanding how data is lost

Most computers store your files magnetically on metal (*HARD*) platters (*DISK*) that use a motor (*DRIVE*) to spin around super-fast. Most HARD DISK DRIVES spin more than 100 revolutions per second. If your car tires turned that fast, your car would be going about 350 miles per hour. And we wonder why they crash! Honestly, I’m surprised they work at all.

Three hard disk drives out of a hundred will fail in the first year for no apparent reason. Even so, there are even more likely reasons you will lose your data. Here are the main reasons we get tech support calls regarding lost data:

• 1. Accidents
  • a. Accidentally delete or overwrite file
  • b. Kids needed room for game so they deleted your lame files
  • c. Dropped laptop on floor
  • d. Spilled latte into computer
• 2. Malware/Hackers/Theft
  • a. Malware includes virus, worms, and other software written to vandalize your computer
  • b. Hackers usually look for easy random targets, but occasionally target individuals for profit, revenge, or to calm their psychoses
  • c. Hey! Where is my computer? It was right here a minute ago!
• 3. Mechanical Failure
  • a. Hard drive dies or becomes scrambled.
  • b. Other computer failure prevents access to hard drive.

  Prevent data loss!

  The best backup is one you never have to use. Let’s address the issues above to learn the best way to prevent data loss.

  • 1. Accidents
    • a. Be careful (Come on, I can’t stand behind you to catch your latte!)
  • 2. Malware/Hackers/Theft
    • a. Use a good password
      • i. Lots of letters, numbers and symbols
      • ii. Don’t tell anyone
      • iii. Don’t write it on a post-it on your monitor
      • iv. Don’t mumble it while you type it
      • v. Don’t use your password as your hint
    • b. Keep Malware protection up to date
      • i. It’s free, but it doesn’t install itself: (http://www.Microsoft.com/security_essentials)
      • ii. Learn how to spot a phishing scam
        • 1. You didn’t win the euro-lotto
        • 2. Nigerian bankers wouldn’t give you a 50-50 split
        • 3. NO LEGIT ORGANIZATION will ever ask for your password in an email
    • c. Never leave your laptop unattended in public.
      • i. duh
    • d. Get your kids their own computers
      • i. They need one better than yours
      • ii. Each kid needs their own (or homework takes a lot longer)
      • iii. They didn’t pay me to say that
  • 3. Mechanical Failure
    • a. Accept the things you cannot change
    • b. Backup your data… (you knew I’d get there eventually. Read on…)

  Back up methods

  When deciding which backup method will work best for you we’ll look at what I like to call the 3 C’s; Cost, Capacity and Complications. There is also a reliability factor. If you ever need your backup, you want it to work.

  BackUp Method		Cost	Capacity	Complications	Reliability	Other Notes
  USB Flash drive (AKA; thumb drive, pen drive)		$5 to $100	1GB to 64GB (small)	Easily portable, Easily lost	Very reliable unless laundered or lost	Best for moving files from place to place
  External Hard Drive		$50 to $200	500GB to 2TB  (large)	Does not protect against theft, fire or major disaster	Very reliable, but same potential failures as internal hard drive.  Very fast restore.	A good choice if you actually use it to regularly back up files or buy software to automate backup process.
  Tape		Too Much	Not enough	Too Many	Bad	Please don't consider tape for home use.
  CD/DVD		$1 to $5	600MB to 8GB  (very small)	Very low capacity, need many disks for backup	Subject to damage from heat, humidity, handling.  Degrades over time	Back up to CD/DVD is slow and often requires multiple disks.  Best for copying files to give to someone else.
  Cloud Based		$60-100/yr.	often unlimited / very high limits	Recurring cost, requires internet	Very reliable if you go with a major company.  File restore can be slow depending on network speed and size of backup	After one time set-up, backup is automatic.  Included software constantly looks for changed files and backs them up.  Set it and forget it!

  Summary of recommendations:

  If you can only do one thing, do the cloud thing. I recommend a company like Carbonite or Mozy. I know they are secure and reliable because they advertise on AM radio. Plus I checked them out. And I have clients and friends who use them and are very happy with them. And I use one of them, but I’m not going to tell you which.

  I recommend, IN ADDITION to backing up to the cloud, you also back up to an external hard drive. This will give you faster access to your files and in the event of a major disaster; network outages may prevent you from accessing your cloud backups for a time.

  Disclaimer: These recommendations were written in January 2011 and are the opinion of the writer. The information is offered without cost and without warranty. Technology, changing as fast as it does, is likely to render this information obsolete before it hits the press. YMMV, etc.

  c.2011 John LaFreniere