Back-ups are a very important, yet often neglected, part of using a computer. I learnt this the hard way. I had to rebuild my computer from scratch several times before implementing complete back-ups on the full system. Most people back up little to none of their files on a daily basis. They dont back-up emails, address books or even accounts data, and then get frustrated when all work is lost.

Speaking from experience it takes several months if not years to get your computer just right for your needs. Meaning internet shortcuts, software installations, FTP accounts and so forth.

Imagine you had all your files backed up. To recover an operating system and all your software that you had installed on your computer is going to take a lot of time and effort. Now imagine you didnt back-up your files, this would be a nightmare.

Youre probably thinking that doing these back-ups are going to take a lot of time that you dont have. This is no excuse. There are several software packages on the market that automate these backups. All you need to do is configure the software, then get it to run on a daily basis at a time that is convenient (eg. 2am, when you most likely wont be using your computer).

The best way of storing these back-ups would be on a secondary drive. The expense of the software and the secondary drive will be minimal, considering the time and effort it would cost you if you didnt have back-ups to re-build your computer. Furthermore it would be even more effective to keep a back-up of your files in an off-site location. Meaning at another physical location. If your computer was to catch on fire a back-up on a secondary drive would not be much help. This would ideally be performed every month or every three months.

With regular back-ups you can work with the peace of mind that if something happens to your valuable data, you can restore it with the click of a mouse.