All right. My Tron meets Lord of the Rings fanfic is almost complete and ready to share with the world!
Seriously, this took me 3 years.
I'm...
Wait, what?!
No! Nonononononono!
I-I am sure that I backed it up!
I’m sure that I backed it up!
I backed it up, right?
Please tell me I backed it up!
Oh god, why didn’t I back it up!!!???
Hello there!
My name is Trisha Hershberger and you are watching DIY in 5, the show that takes technology
and simplifies it down into easily consumable bites.
Today we’ll be going over some of the simplest ways to back up your computer.
This way, in the event of a hard drive fail, malware attack, or unexplained chronic BSOD,
you can breathe a sigh of relief and know everything will be just fine and back to normal
in just a few minutes’ time.
If you find the tips in this video useful, please go ahead and like this video
and subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss out on any future tech tips.
Let’s start off by looking at what exactly needs to be backed up.
Of all the files on your computer, your personal files are the most sacred.
These are the home videos, photos, music collection, and important documents that would be difficult
or maybe even impossible to replace.
Personal files should be backed up often.
You can also back up your operating system, programs, and other settings if you’d like.
Now these can be re-downloaded or re-installed but having a more comprehensive or even full
system backup will save you some time in the event of a computer emergency.
There’s a few different ways to back up your system and they can be either online or local.
I recommend you have at least 3 copies of all important files,
the original, the backup, and the backup’s backup.
A combo of local and online access to files will protect you from 99% of potential data loss.
A local, or onsite, backup is one kept physically at your location, like backing up to an external hard drive.
It’s faster, easier, and much more secure, provided that the physical drive
remains intact and in your possession.
Windows provides a simple solution to back up your data -- called Windows Backup and Restore
in Windows 7 or File History in Windows 10.
First, make sure you have an external drive the same size as the internal drive you are backing up -- or larger.
Keep in mind, SSDs will be faster and last longer than traditional hard drives.
Then, type the word ‘backup’ in your search bar, and choose backup settings.
At the top of the screen you’ll see “Backup using File History”
and you can use the + button to tell your PC which drive you’d like everything backed up to.
You can then customize the backup to take place as often as you like.
For my Mac friends out there, you can go to System Preferences, Time Machine
and choose your backup disk.
You can then set it to run hourly updates and make a copy of any changes to your chosen hard drive.
This is an extremely simple method, but note that it keeps backups until your hard drive
runs out of space, then it will rewrite the oldest data. So, you may have a difficult time
if you need to access a backup from, say, a few months ago.
An offsite backup is any time your files are stored somewhere other than your current system location.
Technically this could be a hard drive you keep at a friend’s house, but more often
it means backing up your system online.
Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, or OneDrive are convenient, low-cost options that have
sync options to automatically sync your most important files.
Depending how much data you want to back up, you may need to purchase a data plan.
You can use your chosen storage platform’s software to set your preferences,
and as long as you are connected to the Internet, your data will be backed up according to your settings.
For my uber hardcore security minded folks watching, there is a more comprehensive way
to back up your entire system known as a disk image or ghost image,
and you will need specific software to do this.
There are free options like Macrium Reflect and EasUS Disk Copy for hard drives 1TB or less,
and paid options like Acronis True Image out there.
If this sounds like something that you need, as always do your research, read reviews, and find
the right backup and recovery software for your needs.
So, be honest, give me a show of hands: How many of you actually back up your computer regularly?
Wait, you guys?!
REALLY?!
And you work in tech!
It’s ok everyone, now’s a great time to get started.
A few minutes of your time could save you from potential disaster.
Do you, out there, have a ‘forgot to backup’ disaster story that you’d like to share?
Please leave it in the comments and we can all commiserate together.
As always, thank you for watching DIY in 5 and I will see you next time!