Since I’ve converted all my collage sheets and sets to digital items, I’m going to try to remember to ask this question regularly. Backing up your digital files will protect you from some of the misery that occurs when your hard drive crashes, your system is infected with a virus, or, in my case, your tower’s fan blows out. It’s happened to me twice, and both times, my files were protected by an external back up drive.
There are several ways to back up your files:
- Burn them to a CD. Most desktop systems have CD or DVD burners.
- Copy them to a flash drive or SD card. These are available at any computer store, and also places like Walmart and Target. Flash drives fit into any USB port. SD cards require a card reader slot, which many desktop and laptop computers have.
- Use an online backup service like Mozy or Carbonite.
- Use an external backup drive. This is the method I use to back up all my business files. I have a 1TB external hard drive the size of a cell phone that plugs into a USB slot, and a scheduling software that runs a backup of my files every Monday morning at 10AM. Whenever we have a tornado warning, I grab that little backup drive, and slip it in my back pocket. The house can fall down—I’ll still have all the Ten Two Studios files.
So. Figure out how you want to manage your files, and do something about it. Today. Don’t wait until they’re gone.