I have nineteen floppy disks I keep tucked away in an airtight box near my computer. I’m serious when I say those disks contain my piece of mind. I’ve lost far worse than software but if I were to lose these particular disks, my piece of mind would be most negatively impacted. In my little airtight box are the disks for PCDOS 7 and Windows 95. They are precious to me and even if I never use them again, I am at peace knowing they are safe and nearby. In fact, I was so overcome with fondness for these obsolete technological marvels I backed them up to CD before I could continue with this article.
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"The more I write about saving my significant data, the more I realize how little of it I've actually protected." |
The reason I attach so much personal value to these 1.44MB babies is because I have been burned before. I cannot count the times I had to format my hard drive because some evil game I installed wrote crap to the registry files and made my PC inoperable. My old computer and I went through a lot together as I learned how not to fuck it up. I stopped putting gaming software on it. I religiously scanned it’s disk and defragged it’s files. I cleaned it’s innards with canned air and scrubbed it’s shell. When the one-gigabyte hard disk of my old machine got too full, I formatted it and started over.
I eventually got a new computer about three years ago and I am proud to say I have yet to format it’s 11GIG drive. In fact, I had gotten so used to drive formatting I secretly wished my comp would fry so I could erase everything. Sick huh? That’s how cocky those little floppies in the airtight box make me feel. I fear nothing from my PC because I have a fail-safe.
I have back up.
Be honest. How many times do you back up those files and programs you depend on to get your business through the day?
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If some jerky hacker destroyed your site files, how fast could you recreate and upload your pages? If your CPU gets dropped while you’re moving into a new home you’ll have to buy a new unit but will you be able to recover all your lost data and software? When you take your laptop on a trip have you considered how you would replace documents and applications if your notebook were stolen? When you buy downloadable content from a provider, do you take care to back your purchase up on CD? Bank statements, address book contents, and password files can all be obliterated by one good thunderstorm. Think about everything you have stored on your hard drive. If your PC died tomorrow and you had the money to get a new one right away, you’d be a fortunate soul. If you were also able to reinstall all your important software and files, you’d be a wise webmaster indeed. Honestly.
Maybe you’re too lucky or too brilliant to let your comp get victimized by the latest email worm. Perhaps you are clever enough to plug your machinery into a surge protector. You could even be one of those extra careful types that take out insurance on their hardware. You may have backed up all your image files but what about that little text file (containing a new contact’s ICQ number) sitting on your freshly ruined hard drive? Can you inventory all your vital bits of data and truthfully say you are safe from disaster?
I admit. I nag but I’m a hypocrite. If I were a superior geek, I would buy fifty-seven little 1.44MB floppies and make 3 backup sets of my practically ancient operating software. CD storage is handy and large in capacity but it’s not perfect. My antique laptop won’t read a CD from a formatted hard drive. I have backup copies of all my articles and web page files but I would be at a loss if my instant messaging software suddenly crapped out on me.
The more I write about saving my significant data, the more I realize how little of it I’ve actually protected. I think about how much exists on my personal machines and on the servers of my sites and I shudder at the thought of losing any of it.
Back up your files kids. Do it for the good of your business. Do it for your peace of mind. Do it and in a few months, do it again. There’s always something that needs saving. There’s always a chance bad things could happen and when they happen, you’ll be glad you took the time to save your assets.