Ways To Avoid Costly Data Recovery

Backup Your Files to Avoid Costly Data Recovery

Each year, many individuals and Brisbane businesses alike lose important files as a result of hard drive failure. Hard drives work in amazing ways and hard drive failure typically takes two forms, logical and physical. These files include photos, tax forms, emails, videos, audio files like music and podcasts, spreadsheets, and databases. In other cases, the data files become corrupted for one reason or another to the point where they are salvageable. I am certain that some of you have faced that situation even once in your life. I know that I have had my fair share of data loss! In order to recover lost data, many people have had to pay exorbitant sums of money to companies that specialise in hard drive data recovery. Even if you try to recover the data yourself, it can be a painstaking process and there is no guarantee that you will get back all, if any, of your data. In most cases, the services of a data recovery technician are recommended such as Computer Fixperts which are a Brisbane data recovery service.  All of this could have been avoided if only the data had been backed up. Backing up your data saves you from worrying about what you are going to do in the eventuality that your data get lost or corrupted. Data recovery costs vary depending on the complexity of the problem.

If you have not been doing it, now is the time to start backing up your files. But this issue raises two important questions:

• Where can I backup my files?
• What software can I use to perform the backup?

File Backup Locations For Your Important Data

This article will answer both questions so that you can make an informed decision on how you can go about backing up your files. If you haven’t backed up your files and you actually need the best data recovery programs to assist you, take a look at the article linked.

As technology advances, the locations where data files can be backed up have become diverse. Many people have now come to appreciate the value of the following backup locations:

1. External Hard Drives – These devices are quite handy, portable, and can fit almost anyone’s budget. The capacity of these hard drives varies and is dependent on the amount of data that you want to backup. You can buy drives that have many gigabytes or terabytes of space. When backing up videos and photos, you may consider buying larger capacity external hard drives. If you are backing up documents and text files, smaller capacity drives should be good enough. The best way to know the size drive that you are going to need to is by checking the combined size of all the files you intend on backing up. That way, you can purchase an external hard drive that is a little larger in capacity than what you really need, just to be on the safe side. The most popular and robust external hard drives are made by companies like Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba.
2. Cloud Storage – Companies like Microsoft, Mega Ltd., Dropbox Inc., and Google now offer cloud storage services that allow you to save your files on their servers so that you can access them anywhere in the world you are. Microsoft has the OneDrive, Mega Ltd. has the MEGA Drive, Dropbox Inc. has the Dropbox, and Google has the Google Drive. Each service offers a certain amount of free space to all users, with the option of increasing storage capacity at a cost. For example, Google, Microsoft, and Dropbox offer 15 GB of free space while Mega offers 50 GB of free space. You can visit each vendors’ site to sign up for free. Information on how to access their service and backup your files is provided on each website.
3. Personal Servers – Those persons who prefer to have their backups onsite on devices other than external hard drives have the option of installing personal servers to store their backed up files. The concept is similar to a cloud backup solution, with the main difference being that the server is located where you are. You can either build your own server if you are technologically savvy or purchase one from your local computer store. The capacity of the internal hard drives of the server must be equal to or, better yet, greater than the size of the files that you intending on backing up. You must always keep in mind the possible need for hard drive space expansion as time goes by since the amount of files that you want to backup usually increases.

File Backup Software

As we are all aware of the many common types of hard drive failure, the importance of backing up our files is crucial. The process of backing up your data is relatively easy and just about anyone can do it. Depending on the amount and size of the files that you want to backup, the entire backup process may take anywhere from several minutes to several hours. In the case of files being backed up off-site, Internet speed, the speed of your computer, and the speed of the storage device impact greatly on backup times. When backing up to external hard drives and personal servers, there are software available that can make the process seamless and hassle-free. You can get some good ones from anywhere between $39 and $100. Here are a few that you can check out:

1. NTI Backup Now 6 – Created by MSRP, this robust program provides File and Folder Backup, Full Disk Backups, Continuous Backups, and Version Saving.
2. StorageCraft ShadowProtect 5 Desktop – Also a creation of MSRP, it provides Full Disk Backups, Continuous Backups, Version Saving, and Recreates Disk Image on New Hardware.
3. Paragon Backup & Recovery 16 – The brainchild of Paragon Software Group, this software provides File and Folder Backup, Full Disk Backups, Version Saving, and Recreates Disk Image on New Hardware.
4. Acronis True Image – Acronis created this program to provide File and Folder Backup, Full Disk Backups, Continuous Backups, Version Saving, and Recreates Disk Image on New Hardware.
5. Genie Timeline Home – This Genie-Soft program provides File and Folder Backup, Continuous Backups, Version Saving, and Explorer Integration.

Each software comes with help files that teach you how to use them. If you are still unsure about what to do, consult the creator’s website or do a search online. While some are easier to use than others, in the end, you will have a backup of the files that are important to you.

Final Thoughts

It makes sense to backup your data files as often as possible. There are many different places available where they can be stored, like in the cloud or on external drives hooked up to your computer. In addition, there are software like Genie Timeline Home and NTI Backup Now 6 that you can use to do it yourself instead of paying someone else to do the backup process for you. Backing up your files saves you the trouble of paying costly data recovery costs as well as the time and money lost in waiting to see if your files can be recovered. Backup your files daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on your needs so as to ensure that you will always have access to them in the event of a computer crash or data file corruption. In the case of data corruption or loss there are many ways of recovering data from a hard drive.