If my personal computer failed, I would lose some pictures, some video, and some documents. Fortunately I have either burned a lot of these items to CD, copied them to another PC, or used some online storage.
One thing I would lose that would be a big deal is my financial files. They are set up to back up on a separate hard drive, which will be OK only if a hard drive crashes, but of no use if I cannot start my computer up. This has happened to me in before. It was a pain. I had to start from scratch with all my account numbers, etc. I also lost my financial history. Eventhough I lost this computer a few years ago, I just started trouble-shooting and replacing hardware this past week.
What I really need to do is bite the bullet and pay for additional online storage. I also should back this info up on a flash drive and keep it in a safe. Online storage of my financial files leaves me a bit nervous about security. I will have to pay more attention to what sort of security my current online storage provider offers before actually going through with regular back ups.
I think the most frustrating part of losing my computer would be restoring the application software. It would definately be time consuming, if not impossible or expensive. I'm not sure; can application software be backed up? Doesn't most software require some sort of installation off of an authentic source?
File recovery, both at work and at home is something I need to give some attention to in the near future. Until I can buy some more time, I will have to continue to roll the dice.
Danelle, your concern about software just reinforces my belief in free online software that is open source. If my computer were to crash my most valued software, ITunes, OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Google Docs, GIMP are all waiting for me out on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteApplication software can be backed up to a point but for the most part you need the originals to do a reinstall. Recently my computer failed and I had to start from scratch. Every so often I still find a piece of software missing. Its like your kitchen was destroyed and you forgot to buy a new wisk!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jason and John for that helpful information. I will need to get together an organization system so I what original software I need at hand.
ReplyDelete...dude... a wisk?... ...really?... ;)