Back it Up & Clean it Up

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Usually a little later, following the Holidays, I remind myself and you, to back up your photo image files and clean up your HDD's.

If you have only an internal Hard Disk Drive, you'll need to back up your image files, photos that is, to CD's or DVD's depending on the room needed. But remember these have a lifetime so doing this once a year keeps the lifespan worry a minor concern. But forget it for a couple of years and you're likely to forget it more and more often. Do it annually at the very least. I backup my image files every time I make a change to any photo. I keep an external hdd right next to my desktop, unplugged and turned off, then I go through the motions and disconnect and shuut down. I don't like running the risk that it could fail while connected so this ensures that the lifespan is extended. Yes I know there are no guarantees.

I also take a hdd to work for safe-keeping as an additional safeguard against fire & theft, F/T. Hdd's are fairly cheap insurance. For the price of a 1TB hdd you have already paid for the alternative of cloud backup, online backup storage. However it is somewhat less convenient. The way that Mozy, Carbonite, PCPitstop and others have made automatic backups, so easy, one could easily argue that it is the best way to go. For me? I like my hands on my image files. Some of us buy gold in an etf, others buy the actual coins.

Then don't forget to clean up your hdd. Clean out all the clutter and temporary files using the tools in Windows or any other application you trust. I stick with the basics or use PC Pitstop's tools.

Here's a review of several of the online backup companies: http://www.nextadvisor.com/online_backup_services/index.php and if this is no longer available try their main site: http://www.nextadvisor.com/index.php







I am not being compensated for any of the Companies mentioned or links provided