Backing up - lessons from kindergarten

Some things are just basic, and you do them daily right? Like showering, flossing your teeth, locking your front door (unless you live in one of 'those' small towns where that's still not necessary). Right in line with this list should be backing up your hard drive regularly. It's one of those things that's just absolutely necessary, especially if you work from home and don't have an IT department that handles that function automatically. The more critical your data to your work and your life (depending on what you have on your hard drive), the more frequently you should back up your files.

I know we've all heard this a thousand times, but allow me to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to remind you for the thousand and first time -- it's really really important to DO it. My favorite tool for the job is the SmartDisk Firelite FireWire external hard drive (comes in multiple sizes). There are lots of other options of course, including the SanDisk Cruzer Mini (also comes in a range of sizes) for quick back-ups of key files on the fly. These drives have never been more affordable, and they offer a form of insurance and peace of mind that is worth every penny. Personally I do a double back-up where I have both my external hard drive and my laptop synched with what's on my desktop machine so that whenever I do back-up, I'm doubly protected. Do yourself a favor, and make regular offerings to the "back up gods". End of PSA.