Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for reflecting; reflecting on why I have so much unorganized data on my computer. You know, it’s something that you’ll get around to doing as soon as… Well I guess ‘as soon as’ is here.

Why do we do this? We have online backup programs, backup drives, thumb/zip drives, DVDs, and CDs. We have all manner of hardware on which we can store data. It just never seems to get there. Thus the New Year’s Resolution – This year I am going to create a backup on a regular basis. I don’t want to be like my co-worker who lost all of their important emails and pictures.

Since I am self-employed it is very important  that I keep up with my data. What needs to be archived? Software programs don’t need to be. If a software program was lost or corrupted, you could reinstall it fairly easily. However, all of the files that you’ve created and/or modified should be regularly backed up. For many businesses, this includes everything from accounting files through email.

You can simplify your archiving by keeping all the files that will need to be archived in a couple of Folders. All you have to do is back up the folders. Once you've selected the critical data to be archived, it's a simple matter to install a backup program or Drag-and-Drop the folders to an external drive to archive the data regularly.

Don't run the risk of losing your data. The best defense against a disaster is regular data archiving. By creating a backup system and schedule, you ensure that your business will be able to weather any storm it faces.

Happy Holidays!