The Chronicles
May 2010
Salutations dear readers and fellow Laurentian neighbors,
Last month, I wrote about the importance of creating a back-up of your computer's data.
( http://www.monamilordi.com/english/reviews/2010/10-04.html ) What an incredible response this created! Thank you so much for all your kind comments and your questions. These got me thinking that I should add additional information on the back-up process. Since I'm inclined to talk about computer related subjects from dawn till dusk, I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet.
Many of you wanted to know how often one must perform back-ups. There is no unique answer to this question. However, I can tell you that I do one EVERY time I add something of importance to me in my computer. This could be a really great photo, my new chronicle for the month or data from one of my hand-held devices.
What do I mean by this last point? It is important to know that when you are doing a back-up, it is not just to copy and store the information found in your computer. It is also to safeguard the data you have in portable devices in case they should be lost, stolen or that they should break down. My entire business runs from my iPhone. It contains all of my calendar entries (e.g. upcoming courses), all of my contacts and all of my favorite songs and photos. You can imagine my disarray were it to disappear or fail! You may have a few devices to do all of this, such as a Blackberry for calendar and contacts and an iPod or .mp3 player for your music. What matters is not if you have one or more hand-helds, but that you make sure to synchronize them with your computer before performing your daily, weekly or monthly back-up.
What is synchronizing? Basically it is to back-up the information from your portable device to your computer. That's right: you then have two back-ups. One in your computer and another in your USB Key or External Hard Drive, thus putting all the chances on your side to never, ever, EVER lose this most precious data. How is it done? All hand-helds come with their own program which you install in your computer. After, you either plug the device with a USB cord or wirelessly by means of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to your computer and start the synchronization process. And then, yes, you guessed it, you perform the back-up of your computer. It’s quick, easy and the most effective way to keep ALL your data safe.
Take good care of yourselves,
questions.monamilordi@gmail.com
This article originally appeared in Main Street – The Laurentians' English Language Community Newspaper.
