Back up your computer – It will save you money and sooooo much frustration in the long term.
Everyone has had that horrible feeling, when you are looking for an important document, but its not where you think, your brain goes into actual panic mode and you frantically hunt the depths of you computer to find it! But what would happen if your computer was actually broke? Or worst still it got stolen!
These £50 devices can save you hours of time if your main computer stops working
Backing up your computer is simple to setup and can save you £100’s + hours of frustration!
Would you be able to find that important document/photo then?
Industry experts state you should have at least 3 back ups of all of your documents, this sounds daunting at first but is actually fairly easy to do:
- Get a portable hard drive which plugs into your computer/laptop and when connected automatically backs everything up.
- Back up via software to the web (securely into ‘the cloud’).
- Copy documents on to a hard drive / DVD / CD and send it to family members for safe storage.
It only takes 15 minutes to set this all up and it can save you £100’s & days of work.
| What? | Cost | More info: |
|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | Free up to 16GB with student account + referrals | Imagine a virtual memory stick, you can access it from anywhere & drag-and-drop files direct to your ‘dropbox’. Get a free Dropbox account. |
| Memory Stick (for important files) | £3 to £30+ | Plug them into any computer and transfer files – The cheapest memory sticks in the UK are from http://10ws.co/1bUXyyQ, http://10ws.co/1qhAh69 & http://amzn.to/1qhAwxT↪ this is the memory stick we use (& love if that’s possible) > http://amzn.to/1zVIHBT 2GB will store 250,000 text emails, 200 MP3 Songs & 300 photos. So its probably best to go for something between 16GB – 128GB, as this will give you plenty of storage for now and the future. |
| Automatic Offsite Backup System | £20 to £60 per year | Software automatically uploads selected folders/files to the internet in a secure area only accessible to you. DIY Synology (ideal at another location) |
| Local complete back ups (hard drive) | £30 to £60 | Buy an external hard drive, then use software (TimeMachine Mac or PC) to automatically save changes you make to the external hard drive. Using a Synology is ideal at reducing the space needed on your existing hard drives/computer. |
| Get insurance! | From £5.99 a month | If you own a laptop, iPhone, mobile phone, iPod, camera or any other gadget & it was stolen are you covered for its loss? If you spill a drink over it, are you covered? – For as little as £5.99 you will get a new device within 48 hours and be covered against, theft, accidental and liquid damage, breakdown, unauthorised use & loss (£1 extra). Or get full contents insurance. Read our guide about DIY insurance. |
What else can I do?
- Password protect your devices
- Install software like 1Password or LastPass to secure your passwords/important documents
- Turn on 2-factor authentication for your most important apps/websites (e.g. Google / Facebook / Twitter / Banks etc)
- Track your important products (e.g. your laptop/phone etc)
