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Now make your mama
happy and back up your
data

Backing up your data is like getting your daily exercise or eating three servings of vegetables per day. It's one of those thing that people know they are supposed to do on a regular basis but unfortunately usually don't get around to.

In the old days, the main reason why people didn't back up their data was because it was about as much fun as getting your teeth cleaned. It meant swapping out stacks of floppy disks that needed to be meticulously numbered and then stored.

Not a lot of fun.

Pleasurable or not, storage needs are expanding exponentially as hard drives become bigger every year. It seems everyone has digital photos of the kids that need to be saved for posterity and many of us listen to MP3 files.

Not only do we have more stuff to store, there is clearly a greater danger that our data may be in jeopardy from hackers, viruses, worms or power outages.

OK, you ask, what can we do to protect ourselves from losing data with the least amount of hassle?

On the hardware side, the easiest thing to do is to purchase an extra hard drive, either internal or external. The internal solution essentially means opening up your box and installing a "mirror" drive that duplicates your storage capacity. A less complicated solution is to purchase an external hard drive that plugs into your USB or Firewire port.

The main problem with the internal drive option is that a flood or fire could wipe you out. Just ask the researchers at UH who suffered through the recent flooding. To counter this contingency you might consider an alternative type of data backup -- an online service that allows you to upload your data to a remote location via a broadband connection. The cost for this starts from about $5 a month for 100 megabytes and can go to $100 a month for 100 gigabytes.

The main advantage to this is that your data is stored remotely, ostensibly out of harm's way. You can do this unattended, on a daily basis, just by scheduling the software. There are any number of mainland and local companies that offer this type of backup. The main downside with this technology is that you'll have to pay a monthly fee.

So what do I do? Being a geek, and somewhat paranoid that I'm going to lose my data, I use a combination of extra internal and external drives.

Every day at 7 p.m. my computer is timed to back up my desktop computer drive with an 80-gigabyte "mirror" drive that I purchased for about $100. To make my internal drive work I use software from Second Copy (www.secondcopy.com) that costs $30. I've also heard good things about a $35 program called SmartSync Pro which you can purchase online at www.smsync.com.

I also back up my laptop with an external backup, called OneTouch from Maxtor.

These external drives are also handy for desktop machines if you don't want the hassle of opening up your box and adding an extra drive. The Maxtor is a sleek anodized aluminum box the size of a paperback book.

I've used the Maxtor system for about a year now and have had no problems with it. They are expensive, though. The newer One Touch II models include a 250-gigabyte unit for $329 or a 300-gigabyte unit for $379.

Note that the Maxtors come with Dantz Retrospect backup software so there's no need to purchase an extra program.

One last word to the wise. Even if you don't feel it's necessary to back up all of your data, do some back up your crucial files.

Even if it's burning a CD or DVD with your priceless family photos once a year, you will be happy you did this when your hard disk dies. It's not a matter of if your hard disk will crash, it's a matter of when.

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