This week I’m writing from a foreign country.
Or at least it feels that way. I’m writing from a foreign computer, which is like a whole different world. I feel completely displaced, somewhat ignorant, and definitely alien. I probably deserve this exile, but I’m glad to know it’s only temporary.
You see, I’ve written and spoken literally for years about the need for secure backup of computer records. I’ve continually offered our customers pearls of wisdom like these:
“As you hopefully know, it’s never a question of IF your hard drive will fail. It’s only a matter of WHEN. ALL hard drives eventually fail. Will yours be today? Next week? Next year?”
or this one:
“If you aren’t performing regular backups, you are PLANNING to lose all your data.”
I’ve even gone so far as to insist that our AcuGraph system offer MULTIPLE ways to securely back up your data–including our secure offsite backup service that guarantees your data integrity against fire, theft, disaster, malfunction, and any of a host of unfortunate events.
Yes, I’ve preached, cajoled, shouted, and otherwise done all I could to convince you.
Well those chickens, as they say, have come home to roost.
Yesterday morning my computer refused to turn on. It was just dead. No amount of telephone support helped, so it was a trip to the computer store for me and my sick laptop. This is never a pleasant thought; that laptop holds my entire “life”–business, personal, past, present, and in many ways future. Pictures of my childrens’ first day of school. The family budget. My daily journal. 6 years of business records. The list of important items is nearly endless. I’ve heard of people running back into burning houses to snatch computers out of the flames, and I understand why. The thought of losing all that is troubling, to say the least.
Even more troubling was the prospect of signing my “life” away when I turned over the computer. I had to sign an agreement that the computer store might lose all my data, might have to replace or erase my hard drive, and that all they promised was a working computer when they were done. Whether my data was on it was a matter of chance.
Would you sign such an agreement?
I did.
And to tell you the truth, I didn’t worry when I signed it. As you might have guessed, I practice what I preach. Every shred of data on that laptop is backed up in TWO geographically separate locations, and both backups are less than 24 hours old. No matter what happens to my computer, when I get it back from the computer store I can get my “life” back with just a few mouse clicks. It’s a VERY comforting feeling to know my data isn’t at risk.
I can’t imagine how I’d be feeling today if the only copy of my data was the one at the computer store that might have already been erased. I see why the “Data Recovery” services charge–and collect–thousands of dollars to recover lost data from dead hard drives.
So today’s blog entry is about how to secure your AcuGraph data. For your convenience, I’ve made a quick video tutorial, available at the bottom of this post. Please take a minute to make sure your data is protected!
Here’s the promised backup tutorial. I’m heading over to the computer store to get my world back! Have a great week!
