Twice this week we have been contacted by users who have suffered from hard disk failures, in both cases with serious implications. Case A is a self-employed person who looks to have lost all their emails and contacts since 2007 (and possibly more). Case B is a retired person who may have lost treasured photos and more.
Josh.biz urges all computer users to take the matter of back-ups very seriously. Whilst working as an IT technician for two years, by the far the most frequent fault was faulty hard disks. Once they begin to fail (often generating random errors which the user ‘just gets on with’), it’s a slippery slope to losing everything. It’s usually at this point that the pain of what might have been lost suddenly creeps in.
Backing up can be easily accomplished by merely copying your vital files (i.e. those you want to keep forever) to another hard disk or device separate from your computer. This might be a CD, a DVD, a USB drive or best of all, an external hard disk. Most versions of Windows have a built in back up facility provided for free to speed up the process. Other purchasable products are available.
If in doubt (and in North Norfolk), consult these experts. Have a device. Have a plan. And, do it.
