Avoid a productivity catastrophe with backup software
One of the applications that I’ve used for several years is a file backup utility called Second Copy, made by Centered Systems. It has come in handy several times when hard drives have crashed or disk errors have been encountered. I’ve also gone back several times to the “backed up” versions of files because I’ve made ill-advised changes to the “live” versions resident on my PC.
What I really like about Second Copy is that once you set up your file structure (more on that later) and the Second Copy backup routine, the software backs up your files automatically and in the background from that point forward. Mine are fully backed up on a daily basis, so I would never be more than a day behind if my hard drive crashed. I’ve basically created an insurance policy against a tremendous loss of productivity and intellectual assets if my hard drive was to crash.
Hard drive crashes are inevitable. The need to go back to older version of files is inevitable. Is it worth $30 to protect all of the intellectual property that you’ve created, and to save the hours and hours that you would have to spend recreating files if a crash occurred? If so, read on!
How Second Copy Works
I’ve set up Second Copy to create an exact duplicate of my data directories on another PC within my local area network. The first time I set up the backup routine, the entire data directory is copied to the other PC. After the first time, Second Copy only copies the files that have been added or changed since the last back up operation, making it a very quick exercise. I have my backup routines set to run during lunch – when my PC is sure to be on, but I’m generally not at my desk – and when I shut down the PC.
It’s easy to set up a backup routine. Second Copy leads you through the process via a Wizard that first asks you what directory you want to copy from, what directory you want to copy to, and when you’d like to perform the backups. After that, the backups run on automatic pilot.
There are other options that you can specify as well. For example, you can back up the files to a compressed ZIP file if you want to minimize hard disk space. You can also arrange to synchronize the source and destination folders so that they match exactly. I’ve chosen to back up my files using a “simple copy” of the source files to the destination backup folder.
Setting Up Your Data Directories
In setting up your backup routines, you can specify that all subfolders should be included in the backup operations. This means that if you are backing up folder “My Data” and all of its subfolders, then if you later add a subfolder under My Data it will be backed up as well.
This has implications for how you should set up your data files. By default, many applications prompt you to save your data under their own data directories. I’ve always advocated setting up a single data directory containing subfolders that are organized by subject-matter, each containing files from all types of applications.
I also recommend setting up a main data folder that is sorted alphabetically to the top of your data directory on your main hard drive (generally c:\). You can do this by using punctuation characters at the beginning of the folder name, something like “!MyData” or “_MyData.” You should then reset the default file locations within all of your applications to your data directory. Generally, you can do this by clicking Tools, then Options (or perhaps Preferences), then searching for the appropriate tab or field to set the default data directory. For example, within Microsoft Word you would reset the default directory by clicking Tools, Options, File Locations, then resetting the data directory for Documents.
Some applications (like Outlook, Quicken and QuickBooks) have separate backup routines that create a backup file or set of backup files (generally compressed). These applications generally prompt you if you want to back up the data, interrupting your work. For these applications, I don’t directly back up the data across the network because it’s much slower than backing up to my local hard drive, but instead back up the data to a file or files that reside under the data directory that I’ve set up. Second Copy then backs up the compressed backup files across the network at the specified time(s), and does so in the background without interrupting my work.
Where Do I Back Up My Files?
There are a variety of places to which you can back up files. I’ve found that the best way to ensure that items are backed up regularly is to back up the files to media that is “permanently attached” rather than temporary. I’ve found that backing up data to tape drives or a writeable CDs turns data backups into “events” that discourage users from spending the time to find and insert the appropriate tape or CD. I have a strong preference for making data backups a non-event and something that occurs automatically in the background without user intervention.
The best place to back up data, if it’s available to you, is across a local area network to another PC. In the office, you can back up to a shared PC server, which in many cases is ALSO backed up and perhaps even stored offsite (which is ideal) to protect against catastrophic loss due to events like fires and hurricanes.
If you don’t have a networked PC to back up to, I’d recommend purchasing an external hard drive that connects to your USB port. Maxtor makes a 60Gb unit that sells for about $140, and numerous other manufacturers provide external hard drives as well. You can find a good list of external hard drives by going to http://www.amazon.com/ and searching for “external hard drive.”