Why is it a good habit to backup your computer? Is it because operating systems are not reliable? Can you lose data easily and must keep backups with you at all times? Operating systems usually don’t fail on their own, but there are a number of things which can cause them to fail. Operating systems can get infected by viruses which can corrupt data. You may lose the data present in your entire system if a lethal virus infects it. This is just one of the many things that can go wrong.
Hardware failure is another problem. HDDs eventually wear out, as their moving parts fail after sometime. Although you can recover data even from a broken hard drive, the methods require you to use sophisticated tools which cost a lot. It is better to save your data to avoid losing it, even if your disk fails.
Backing up manually
You can store all your files on a separate hard drive. Portable hard drives can easily be bought from any computer hardware store. You don’t need to fix them inside your computer, as some of them support USB 3.0. Move all your important data to a portable hard drive and keep it safely with you. Keep the hard drive away from direct sunlight. We recommend that you install an SSD on your system, as they contain no moving parts and don’t easily fail.
The problem is that when you back up manually, you also have to maintain your backup data manually. Even portable hard drives can fail or break if you do not take care of them. There is one advantage, however. Your data will be safe with you, and if you are careful, nobody will be able to steal it.
Making image files
You can make entire image files of your entire operating system. You can use this image file to completely restore your operating system with all the installed programs intact. Image files may not be able to completely restore all of your files, but they will restore the most important programs or most of the programs that were on your system.
You can use a cloud storage service to store your data. The provider of the service will be responsible for all your data. They will maintain it and create backups of the data you store on their cloud. Most cloud providers do have a free package, which will let you store at least 2 GB of data. If you want more space, you can purchase it. The cloud storage services are not costly and some business plans can get you more than 500 GB of storage at extremely low rates. You can even share your data with others and not a single byte from your hard drive will be occupied.
What we recommend
If you have sensitive data that you want to keep only to yourself, we recommend that you create your own backup system or place your backup files in separate hard drives. Cloud storage has a lot of advantages and is our first choice. You will not have to do anything after you store your files on a cloud.