It’s already been 3 months since the 2019 “World Backup Day” (yes, it is a real thing – www.worldbackupday.com), so it’s time to remind ourselves of the importance of this topic. Like flossing and exercise, we can all pretty much agree that it’s important but many of us don’t do it often or well enough.
As Easy As 3-2-1
The gold standard of backup follows the 3-2-1 rule – at least 3 copies of all your important data, with 2 copies on different storage media, and at least 1 copy always in a physically separate location. Let’s take those one at a time.
All Of Your Important Data
Every Windows user has a “Documents” folder where most programs store their data files by default. And many users create subfolders off of their “Documents” folder for specific purposes. The same is often true for the default “Pictures”, “Downloads”, “Music”, and “Videos” folders. So backing up the content of those folders will usually get most of the important data.
But many users I’ve worked with are shocked to learn what’s missing from a backup of just these folders.
There is also a folder called “Desktop” that contains everything you see on your Windows desktop, and many folks store data files and/or data folders on the desktop to make them easy to access.
If you use an email client program like Outlook or Thunderbird, your downloaded emails and any contact and calendar data may be stored in folders other than those mentioned. And depending on how your email account was setup, those may be the only copies of that data in existence.
Then there are things like browser favorites, macros, templates, and custom program settings that are either difficult or impossible to capture in a data-only backup.
And to make things even more complicated, some programs still default to storing their data files in folders other than the ones already mentioned.
The takeaway – find out where all of your important data is stored on your PC and make sure it is being backed up.
2 Copies On Different Storage Media
Most people these days are using either a flash / thumb drive or an external hard disk for backup. They are generally reliable, high capacity, widely available, and inexpensive. From 16 gigabyte flash drives at $4 – $5 each to 4 terabyte portable hard disks at $100 or less, there is a wide range of choices certain to fit any need.
A minor caveat about flash drives – because most of them stick out of the USB port by an inch or two, they are prone to being bumped and broken. Even just the process of insertion and removal puts enough stress on the connector that these often break, making them incredibly bad choices to store the only copy of anything you want to keep.
At Least 1 Copy Always in a Physically Separate Location
This is often the most challenging part if you’re only using backup to flash or external hard disk. Creating and regularly using procedures to swap drives and take one off-site is challenging for even the very disciplined PC user.
But one easier way to fulfill this last need is with an online service. Many people already use Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive to synchronize copies of important data to folders “in the cloud” (and to other PCs that use the same account). The drawback to these and similar services is that they only capture data stored in a separate, special folder on your PC, so you need to redo your file storage setup and modify procedures accordingly.
Or you can use one of the many online backup services (Lifewire has a great recent review of 22 different ones – https://www.lifewire.com/online-backup-services-reviewed-2624712). These services allow you to specify which files and folders to backup and then run continuously in the background.
An Easier, Inexpensive Alternative
In All About Backup – Part 2, I’ll describe a system I’ve implemented for many of my clients that makes 3-2-1 backup easy and automatic.