If your computer's hard disk crashes or fails, you may lose access to all of your data and programs. For that reason, smart computer users keep backup copies of all their important files. In the event of a hard disk crash, the backup files can be copied from the backup device to a new hard disk, thus minimizing the effect of the crash.
When it comes to making backup copies of your files, there are several options available:
If you are running Windows XP Professional, you can use the built-in Microsoft Backup utility. Open My Computer, right-click on the hard drive icon, and select properties. When the Properties dialog box appears, select the Tools tab and click the Backup Now button.
Purchase and install a third-party backup program. These programs let you schedule regular backups of some or all of the files on your hard disk. Backups can be made to an external hard drive, CD-ROM, backup tape, or another location on your home network.
Purchase and install an external backup hard drive. Most of these drives come with their own backup software that automates the backing up of data from your current hard drive to the new backup drive.
Subscribe to an online backup service that lets you back up your files over the Internet. Your backup files then are stored on the backup service's servers.
Once your files are backed up, you can use your backup software to restore the backed up files to your hard drive, in the event of a hard drive failure.