 Some Backup Advice

Got important files and data on your computer? You probably know it's important to back it up on an external device in case your computer crashes and all your data is lost forever. But it is important to know some "tech specs" and what device to backup your data on.

Here is an approximation of how large a typical file is:

A Song (imported from a CD) that is 3 minutes long is 3 MB (megabytes). Note that this depends on the compression and formatting of the song.

A Video (on a hard drive) that is 10 minutes long is 1 GB (gigabyte; 1000 MB). This can vary.

A Picture is hard to approximate, for pictures come in different resolutions and formats, but they are usually in the mid-high KBs (kilobyte; 1/1000 of a megabyte).

A standard Microsoft Word Document is in the low KBs (32 KB, for example).

The Well-Known and Commonly Used Backup Devices

-External Hard Drive: (below) Probably the most common in storing large amounts of data, such as music, videos, and other large files. Note that in this day and age, 40 GB and up of storage space is often used and is recommended.

-USB Flash Drive: (below) Very useful for traveling and storing documents and pictures, and, depending on the memory capacity of the flash drive, music and short video clips. The Flash drives are about 2 inches in length and plug into a USB port of your computer. They can store anything from as little as 32 MB to 10GB and possibly more. As technology develops, more and more memory will be able to fit into this little device.

-CD (Compact Disc): (below) A standard CD stores up to 700 MB. There are two main types of CD: R (wRitable) and RW (ReWritable). If you're into burning CD's for music purposes, buy R CDs. It is true that you can burn music on a RW CD, but you can only play them on your computer, not on your stereo. For data files, such as documents and pictures, RW is ideal, since you can write files, delete files, and add files to your RW CD at any time. Once you burn a R CD, nothing can be changed, it's done (hence the name, "burn").

-DVD (Digital Versatile/Video Disc): DVDs look exactly like CDs and store up to 9.4 GB (the standard is 4.7 GB, which stores up to 120 minutes of video). The same applies to DVDs: when burning videos, use R, or else they won't play in your DVD player.

-Floppy Disk: (below) Only use these flat things if you want a temporary and makeshift backup (like a day or week). Why? With only 1.44 MB of storage capacity and a low reliablity rating, these things aren't worth it in this day and age. They are defenseless against magnetic fields, so don't store them on top of metal, such as your computer's case or a speaker. They do not last very long and have significant problems retaining recorded data. Don't be surprised if your floppy disc is corrupted after a year of storage. Yes, they can last a long time, but don't trust them 100%.Choose the right backup device for you, but remember to backup important data that you don't want to lose forever. Imagine losing a book (on your computer) you've been working on for over a year! How about important finance or insurance information--gone.

No matter which device you use, always remember to backup often and backup what you need!