My Computer's Fallen and It Can't Get Up!

Best backup system to use? This question is heard a lot. One answer is external hard drives. If you don't have a lot of data then save some money and use a jump drive (AKA travel drive, thumb drive, pocket drive, etc.). These are small in form, plug into the USB port and usually come with a lanyard so it can be worn around the neck. Nice jump drives can be found for under $100.00 all day long. Wally-World even carries them. I'd try OfficeMax first due to selection and they usually have great prices.

If you have a lot of data then consider buying two, yes that's right, TWO full size external hard drives. This will give you the ability to tell everyone that you have ascended in the techno realm and become a walking RAID 1 array. ROFL! Okay joke's over, back to the serious. Be sure and purchase external hard drives that are intended for backup use. They will include the needed software. The reason for two is that if your data is extremely important then you will always have a backup on site and off site. That makes sense, doesn't it? Like in case of fire?

Shop around for these items. Most of the jump drives are reliable and I have several clients that use these devices for backup, moving files, etc. As far as the external hard drive backups I like the Maxtor. May cost a few dollars more, but the software is very user friendly.

If you are adventerous and lean towards geekness you may want to try a RAID array using the SATA hard drives. Really geeked? Then you probably have found SCSI by now. Old technology that is still super fast and very dependable. It costs though.

If you have a CD or DVD burner in your machine there are several software companies that make it easy to use these devices for backup. The best? Go with the latest version of Nero. They rock.

"Why don't they make the whole plane out of that black box stuff."
-Steven Wright