Although we often think of digital disasters as being a software failure, aka the blue screen of death, there are several other ways we put our digital devices (where our data lives) at risk. These include physical damage from fire/flood/accidental destruction, theft, and malware or a virus. What can you do to keep your valuable information safe?
Back up your data!
I encourage using an online/cloud based backup system because once you set it, the backup will happen automatically. You can also backup on a physical USB style hard drive. However, keep in mind that this item is also at risk for the problems above. Below is a site you can look to for recent comparison of online backup services. Mozy, Crashplan, and Carbonite are considered the big three. Of these, Mozy is the only service with a free version. My personal preference is Crashplan.
Online Backup Service Comparisons
Remember your passwords!
We have so many passwords to remember, along with the recommendation to use ‘strong’ passwords which don’t make sense, that it is nearly impossible to keep all that information in your brain. Many of us trust our computer to remember passwords for us – which becomes problematic when your computer crashes or is destroyed. Below is a comparison of several of the big names in online password managers. They remember your passwords so you don’t have to. Another option is to document your passwords somewhere safe that you can easily reference.
Comparison of Password Managers
Sync your browsers!
Chrome and Firefox browsers both have an account option, which means once you are signed in to that browser – regardless of what computer you are on – you will be able to see all of your bookmarks and other settings. This is beneficial because we don’t think about losing all those pages/recipes/online images that we marked as ‘read later’ or want to keep for blog or social media reference. Again, you can do a physical export of the bookmarks to your computer, but this is a manual task that would need to be repeated when you save new bookmarks.
Firefox How To Sync
Chrome How To Sync
If you only do one thing, sign up for an online backup service today – do not delay!
Questions? Need help getting started?
Give me a call!