Today's post may seem very basic to some, but ultimately that's all backing up is, it sounds like a process, a complicated process, but its not hard to do at all. I get asked a lot how to back up photos, so here it is.
Basically backing up just means that you are making a spare copy of your data, whether it be photos or documents or files. One of the most reliable ways to safely store information is on to a disc that is safely stored, but due to the amount of data that people have on their devices these days, this is a dying practice as it would require too many discs. The common method now is to save to a hard drive, USB drive, or memory card.
Memory cards are a very good option for this, because most come with a switch on them that can "lock" the card and nothing can be saved over the top of your previously saved material. The down side to cards is they are small and may be easily misplaced.
If you have photos that you want to make "safe" copies of, the easiest way is to make a folder, you might name it "photo backups", then you can "copy and paste" or "cut and paste" the photos you want into this folder. The same principle applies for documents, files, or other folders.
Now, there are two ways to transfer this folder: You can right click on your "backup folder" and select "cut" from the menu. You need to then open up your backup destination, this is done by clicking on "My Computer" in your Start menu, the window that opens will have pictures, or a list of all the discs or storage devices on your computer, double click on your back up device to open it and then right click and select "paste" once in this window.
The second method is to right click on your "backup folder" and select "send to" from the menu that appears, this will bring up a list of all the devices on your computer, simply click on the one you want and that's it.
Depending on your system you may get pop up messages along the way asking you if you are sure you want to perform this task, so just click OK to this message.
Now this is just a basic way of "backing up" your valuable data, most operating systems have a backup program included and are not too difficult to use, they may require a bit of experimentation by you to make sure you are doing it properly.
There are hundreds of backup programs available on the web, both free and paid. The advantage to using a program is you can set a schedule to do a regular backups, this will keep your backed up data up to date. You can also back up to your "cloud" storage that we spoke about in the last post.
The last thing is to keep your backed up material in a cool, dry place, even better is to keep one copy at a friend or family members house. This way in the event of an unfortunate circumstance at your house, you will have a safe copy of your treasured photos or important documents and files.
Basically backing up just means that you are making a spare copy of your data, whether it be photos or documents or files. One of the most reliable ways to safely store information is on to a disc that is safely stored, but due to the amount of data that people have on their devices these days, this is a dying practice as it would require too many discs. The common method now is to save to a hard drive, USB drive, or memory card.
Memory cards are a very good option for this, because most come with a switch on them that can "lock" the card and nothing can be saved over the top of your previously saved material. The down side to cards is they are small and may be easily misplaced.
If you have photos that you want to make "safe" copies of, the easiest way is to make a folder, you might name it "photo backups", then you can "copy and paste" or "cut and paste" the photos you want into this folder. The same principle applies for documents, files, or other folders.
Now, there are two ways to transfer this folder: You can right click on your "backup folder" and select "cut" from the menu. You need to then open up your backup destination, this is done by clicking on "My Computer" in your Start menu, the window that opens will have pictures, or a list of all the discs or storage devices on your computer, double click on your back up device to open it and then right click and select "paste" once in this window.
The second method is to right click on your "backup folder" and select "send to" from the menu that appears, this will bring up a list of all the devices on your computer, simply click on the one you want and that's it.
Depending on your system you may get pop up messages along the way asking you if you are sure you want to perform this task, so just click OK to this message.
Now this is just a basic way of "backing up" your valuable data, most operating systems have a backup program included and are not too difficult to use, they may require a bit of experimentation by you to make sure you are doing it properly.
There are hundreds of backup programs available on the web, both free and paid. The advantage to using a program is you can set a schedule to do a regular backups, this will keep your backed up data up to date. You can also back up to your "cloud" storage that we spoke about in the last post.
The last thing is to keep your backed up material in a cool, dry place, even better is to keep one copy at a friend or family members house. This way in the event of an unfortunate circumstance at your house, you will have a safe copy of your treasured photos or important documents and files.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to let me know your thoughts