2. Back-ups

We often feel that we have done enough by making sure that we keep saving documents whilst we are working on them.

Whilst this is a very sensible idea and it can save you a couple of hours lost work, it is not enough to ensure that your files are safe in the long term.

What would happen if your computer was to fail tonight and when you switched it on in the morning all you got was a strange noise and a blank screen?

It doesn't matter how many times you saved your work, if the hard disk fails then the work will be lost*

The only way to ensure that you will always have access to a copy of your files is to make a copy of your work, preferably onto a removable storage device. This enables you to keep the copy in a different place to your hard disk - just in case there was a burglary or damage such as fire or floods.

Making a copy of your data is called a 'back-up'.

Another sensible reason for making a back-up of your work is not only in case the hard disk fails or is stolen but because it is possible for files to become corrupted or damaged. If this were to happen you would be able to re-install a working copy of your files from the back-up you had made.

 

*Note: there are specialist services that can retrieve data from a damaged hard disk, but this can be an expensive process and they cannot guarantee to restore the data.

Challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you

Click on this link: Making software backups