While you may sometimes feel like your personal computer (PC) is possessed, an exorcism would be of little help for most computer problems. It may be of little consolation to you, but even so-called computer experts, who work with PCs on a daily basis, get just as frustrated with PC related problems as you do — probably more so.
PC usage has grown to such a point that it is uncommon for the average family to not have a PC. Our reliance and dependence on them to shop, bank and communicate continuously grows. As such, they have become a necessity for many, even for merely personal use. Unfortunately, despite the evolution of the PC and its related software, their operation has yet to be simplified and they are still not as reliable as our other tools and appliances. This article will provide a few suggestions on how to prepare for when problems with your PC arise.
While the Information Technology department of The Henssler Financial Group does not and cannot provide individual computer support, through a series of articles we will provide some general advice and commentary on personal and small-business computer usage. What may work for some, will not work for all; therefore, please no e-mails saying "But, you forgot about this," as we cannot cover all situations.
First and foremost, always remember it is not a question of IF your computer will crash, just a matter of WHEN. Computers are electro-mechanical devices made up of numerous components of varying quality and reliability. Eventually, one or more of those components will fail. Additionally, PCs are one of the most often stolen devices in home burglaries, and should you have a fire, it is likely that your PC and all contents will be totally destroyed. As a precaution, you should ensure that you have a reliable backup of your important information. When trying to identify what important information could be affected, think of what information or files are stored on your PC that you would pay money to get back, if it were lost. Odds are if you are willing to pay to replace it, it should be more cost effective to make a copy of it. Backups are insurance — like insurance, we hope we never need it, but are glad we have it when we do.
For the average home user, files such as digital photos, e-mails, e-mail addresses, banking and financial software, passwords to the different web sites we visit would be considered backup worthy. Some people back-up their data to removable media like CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, tape drives or removable hard drives. Others may "offsite" their data, relying on a third party to store copies of their data for them. Many people use a combination of both, and you may even do so already.
E-mail and E-mail Addresses
If you use a browser based e-mail service (Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) you already trust your e-mail and e-mail addresses to a third party. Generally, these services are completely free and highly reliable.
Digital Photos and Movies
Digital photo sites like Flickr, Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc., do not charge you to store photos on their site; however, they do charge to print photos. Some require you to order prints periodically to maintain your storage of photos. While utilizing one of these services is good, you may also consider burning a copy of your digital images to DVD and storing them in a fire-proof safe. Considering that your photos are items that are irreplaceable, cost of the DVD burner and recordable media works out to be very cheap insurance.
Software and Data
There are a number of free and low-cost offsite storage web sites that provide software, which automatically will backup selected files from your computer to theirs. Most home PC users should consider one of these services, as many manual backup processes tend to be forgotten. Several months or even years of information could be missing if a tragedy should strike. If you have something that automatically backs up your files when the files change, you are much less likely to lose information. To find sites that provide this service, go to your favorite search engine and enter the words "Internet backup." You will find a lot of companies in this market — many will come and go, especially those that purport to be totally free. One to consider is www.mozy.com. This site offers 2 GB of free backup or an unlimited amount for $4.95 per month.
Protecting your important data through backup is the first, and typically, most important step to take. Equally important, if you are connecting to the Internet, is computer security. For most, that means anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing and firewall software, all of which often come packaged in the same product from most vendors. In general, you should not even consider connecting to the Internet unless you have a current version of a product that provides this protection. A current leader for the home market is ZoneAlarm.
With your computer protected by current and updated security software and all of your important data backed up — should you still worry? Well, you are now in better shape than probably 90% of your neighbors and friends, but there is even more that you can do. If you can afford to be without your PC for several days, then you have the option of taking it to a local repair service or paying for an on-site technician to come to your house. However, if you depend on your computer for your work and being without it even for one day will cost you time, money or grief, there are a number of things you can do to improve reliability and decrease potential downtime.
At the high-end, you can create a redundant system of two computers networked together. One computer to work on, while the other is continually and automatically receiving a copy of all the changes you make to your primary PC. Should your primary fail, you swap it out with its "twin" and keep working. Scaling that back a bit, the average user can achieve redundancy using multiple hard drives. While this provides you an immediate backup of all the files on your PC, it does not replace the need for offsite storage. In the event one drive fails, the other kicks in automatically, and you never miss a beat or lose any data. This type of disk redundancy is called RAID 1 and is relatively inexpensive. For anyone who is dependent, economically or emotionally, to the information on their PC, RAID 1 provides a reliable back up. Unfortunately, this merely scratches the surface of a fairly complex topic.
Bottom Line
Protecting and backing up your data from your personal PC is a wise decision both technically and financially. If a disaster should happen that renders your PC unusable, you can have a full backup by using an off-site storage service. Simple virus and spyware protection can also minimize your risk if you do banking or shopping online.
If you have suggestions for future technology-related topics, please relay those to your Associate or comments@henssler.com.
