Randy Rice, our Senior Server Administrator, recently wrote an article for our quarterly newsletter, The Grapevine, discussing a few important reasons why it is imperative to back-up computer files. When your “to-do” list is piled high with a hundred other things to do, it is difficult to remember to back-up files. However, we all could greatly benefit from taking the additional time to save our work. Thanks to Randy, here are some helpful tips for keeping your files safe:

Practically every computer sold within the last few years has a CD/DVD burner. Take advantage of it! Most come with software that allows you to drag and drop files onto a blank CD so you can store them in a safe place. One-touch back-up solutions are very reasonably priced these days. Once they are configured, with the press of a button they will back-up all of your important data. You can find a wide-range of them in your local electronics store. As a warning, do not use a USB thumb drive as a master back-up device! They are convenient for transferring data, but they can “go bad” so to speak, dumping everything on them. When in doubt, print it out! Keep a hard copy of anything you can’t live without. Paper may be “antiquated,” but it is still one of the most effective back-up solutions around.  MT