Backing Up Your Computer System
When your personal computer crashes, it can be a real pain to get everything back up and running again. But when your business computer crashes, it can become a major disaster! Since I've just spent several days recovering my own computer system, I made notes on what information you need to back-up in order to help you get things up and running again in the event that your hard drive bites the dust.
There are lots of ways to back-up data. There are online services, extra hard drives, tapes, CDRs and several other ways to save data. How you do it is up to you. (I simply burn data onto blank CDs every month.) The point of this article is to teach you what information needs to be saved. How you do it, is up to you.
Data
Remember things like customer receipts, pending show applications, inventory sheets and the data from all accounting software you use for your business. (Oh, and don't forget to save all those digital pictures you have too! Nothing is sadder than losing all you pictures of your child’s first few years of life because you never took the time to save them to CD.)
ISP Account Settings
Keep your user name and password, and ISP phone numbers in a handy place. If you do not have this information memorized, you will need to either contact your ISP or dig through your old paperwork to find it. One of the first things many businesses need after a crash is Internet access so be sure you can quickly reconfigure your new system to connect.
Email Account Settings
You will need your user names, email addresses and server settings (incoming, outgoing mail) for each email account you have to get things set up again for email. You should also save your address book periodically by exporting the file onto a backup disk. If you have ever lost your entire contact list due to a crash, you know how frustrating it can be to find everyone's email address again!
Programs
Programs are easiest set up when you have the installation disk, so keep those CDs in a safe place. If you purchase and download software online, keep the installer file as well as any product activation codes you receive for reinstallation of these programs. Some subscription-type sites will let you download the software again, so be sure to keep a hard copy of any login information you will need to get back to their site.
Passwords
If you are like me, you probably use the built in features of your Web browser to automatically put in passwords to sites when you visit them. You should keep a copy of any login information you use so that you won't have to rack your brain trying to remember that credit card login information after you set up your new computer.
Peripherals
This includes your printer, digital camera, scanner and anything else you use with your computer. Most of the time you will need the software that came with the equipment to reinstall it after a crash. Keep all these disks together in a safe place! I once spent a week searching for an old cd that came with my camera to reinstall it. I finally found it in the box it came in buried under other boxes in my basement! I could have saved a lot of time by just keeping the cd with the printer and scanner cds in the same place!
Favorites/Bookmarks
If you use the Internet for your business, you probably have lots of bookmarks to Web sites saved. This can be to financial accounts, suppliers, sites to shows you attend and even forums. Most Web browser software makes it easy to back up your bookmarks. Do it on a regular basis and you'll be safe when the inevitable crash and burn happens to your computer.
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