Organise Your Data and then Backup!
If your one of those PC users who like to put your pictures or holiday videos on your computer so you can look or share them later, then you will benefit from being organised.
By default Windows sets up special folders for users to hold Pictures/Music/Video etc and puts these in your home folder which you will know as ‘My Documents’.
By using these folders to store your files accordingly , you will know where they are and they can contain as many sub-folders as you wish.
Now the important part… Because your files are in these special folders and not all over the place, its makes the job of preserving them extra easy.
I highly recommend that to do this you either :
- Buy a large USB memory stick – These are very cheap now
- Buy a DECENT make of DVD-R/CD-R disks
Now what you need to do is simply copy the entire ‘My Documents’ to the USB stick or burn to the DVD-R/CD-R disks on a regular basis.
USB stick is far better suited to this as by using a DVD/CD disc is slower and not eco-friendly as you use a new disk every time you back up. USB sticks simply use over and over again.
Thats not to say a DVD/CD doesn’t have its use. For long term storage of pictures or Video, they can be burnt and then stored in a cool dark dry place. This is why I said DECENT discs. The cheapy ones from Tescos and the like are ok for short term back ups but longer term need a more reliable disc, this is where quality costs, though decents discs are still extremely cheap.
Backing up is easy as well, simply put your Disc in the drive or put the USB into a spare USB slot then goto My Documents. Press Alt-A to select all files and then simply Right Click and choose the Send To option, your DVD/CD drive or USB drive will be one of the targets you can choose and Windows will then copy the files to your choice.
