Just as the three basic rules of real estate are location, location, location, the three basic rules of using a PC are backup, backup, backup. If you have ever experienced a Windows crash in the middle of composing an elegy to Bill Gates, you will understand the pain of trying to reconstruct your work if you haven’t saved it.
In fact, I am so insecure when it comes to data, that I back up my work to a thumb drive, an external hard drive and a re-writable CD drive.
However, if you have never had a computer crash in the middle of a masterpiece, you probably are thinking that it never can happen to you. It can, and it will. So do something smart for a change, and back up your data.
If your data are all stored in one folder, Windows lets you drag and drop files to a backup drive, but if you are like me and have data on many folders, including ones for photos, financial data, and your latest great American novel, you probably need a backup program.
Easy PC Backup has utilities that will back up your files to just about any type of external drive (except tape drives). Backups can be password-protected, scheduled for times when you aren’t using your computer – hourly, every day, every week or even every month. I recommend every hour. You choose which files or folders you want updated, and Easy PC Backup does the rest. Large files can be compressed to save space, and once you’ve finished a backup, you can run a utility that will verify whether the data is capable of being restored.
If you’ve invested a few minutes to customize Easy PC Backup, and Windows crashes on you, restoring key files to your hard drive is fast and simple. You choose what you want to restore and where you want to restore it.
The CD comes with a comprehensive manual, but I was able to figure out how to use the program right out of the box.
Now, all together: What are the three basic rules of PCs?
Easy PC Backup will run on all versions of Windows.
For a copy, send $20, plus $5 for shipping, to WashingtonCD, P.O. Box 351531, Los Angeles, Calif. 90035. Or by credit card at www.washingtoncd.net or 800-395-7797.
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