3 easy steps anyone can take now to back up a PC
Check out the following ways to BACKUP your PC:
1. Choose cloud backup vs. external backup
I recommend backing up these files to either an external hard drive or the cloud.
An external hard drive is cheap and fast. But because it resides in the same building as your PC—and likely the same room—a fire, flood, or burglar can deprive you of both your original (the files on your internal hard drive or SSD) and the backup.
That problem gets worse if you leave the external drive plugged into your PC 24/7. If it’s always connected, the same power surge or ransomware can also destroy both.
On the other hand, cloud backup is much slower. It can take days, or even weeks, to do the first full backup. A hard drive could do it in hours. The cloud is also more expensive in the long run, because you have to make monthly or annual payments to keep the service.
2. Choose a backup program
Any decent backup program will let you set criteria that controls which files will be backed up—for instance, only files in certain folders or of certain file types. The default settings should be right for most users.
Once the rules for the backup are set, the program will create a full backup that copies every file matching the criteria. Subsequent backups will be incremental, copying only the files created or changed since the last backup.
With cloud backup, you pick a service, which then provides the software. I’ve used Mozyand Carbonite, and find both excellent. Other services are probably just as good.
3. Make an image backup of Windows itself
Backing up your data is vital, and should be done daily. Backing up Windows itself is just a good idea, and need only be done three or four times a year.
For this chore, you need to create an image backup, which copies the entire drive into one compressed but still huge file. Windows 7, Windows 8, and EASEus Todo Backup can all image-backup your drive. There’s no cloud option here; you’ll need an external hard drive.
Credits: pcworld.com