COMPUTING CENTER
July, 2009
Why we don’t backup our computers: 1.. It’s boring It is a task without reward—99.99% of the time. The belief that “it won’t happen to me.” *************************** If you use discs-CDs or DVDs—it is a good practice to make 2 copies of each disc. Check to make sure the files were copied correctly. Store discs in a cool dry location. If possible store discs in 2 locations—in case of fire or theft. If you use an external hard drive: Consider the size of the external drive. A 500 gb external drive cost around $100. If you are working on an important document (and it is not too large) you can email it to a colleague or yourself for a saved copy on the mail server. Print a copy that can always be scanned in an emergency.
IT NEWSLETTER
Computing Tips and Tricks….
Data loss happens more than you realize, according to some research groups. The odds are against you if you are not backing up your data. 3. 4. 96% of all business computers are not being backed up. 100% is the failure rate of disks and tape drives-all drives eventually fail. the truth is, it could. As computers continue to become the principle way in which many people conduct important transactions, this type of thinking is risky. To make matters worse, today’s computers are more vulnerable to the imminent threats that are multiplying on the internet. Do you need to back up all of your computer data? The short answer is “no, you do not need to backup all of the files on your computer”. However, there are certain files that you do need to backup, so that in the event that your computer decides it is time to “go”, you will not be at a total loss. So what files should you backup: important files that you have created—documents, spreadsheets, projects, photos, email contacts, and perhaps your browser bookmarks. Backup workshops: The Computing Center will be holding workshops on : Backing up your dataThe workshops are scheduled every Thursday (as long as needed) in the Computing Center lab 10 am—11 am and 2pm –3pm The first workshop will be held on July 23. Please email sgiles@hsc.edu or call 6371 to reserve your space in one of the workshops. We will send emails to ―nag‖ you until you come.
And on a different note -A little justice….The ―spam king‖, Alan Ralsky, has plead guilty to sending spam and will serve up to 7 years in prison. He and four accomplices plead guilty to email fraud. The U.S. Prosecutors believe the team acquired over 3 million dollars from their scam between January 2004 and September 2005.
Some scary statistics: 1. 25% of all PC users suffer from data loss each year. That is 1 in 4… 15% of all laptops are stolen or suffer hard drive failure.
According to the National Computer Security Association it may take: 19 days and $17,000 to recreate 20mb of lost sales/ marketing data; 21 days and $19,000 to recreate 20mb of lost accounting data; 42 days and $98,000 to recreate just 20mb of lost engineering data. Many of us prefer to adhere to the idea of “it’ll never happen to me”,
2.
A plan: Develop a quick and easy backup routine. The faster you can backup your work, the more likely you will actually backup your work. It may take a little time to plan this routine, but it will pay off.
Backup Tips
It is highly recommended that you store the most important files in the “My Documents” folder. You should do a full backup of all your files, folders, emails, and Internet favorites first...and after that point do incremental backups of newly added or modified files. Backups should be done on a regular basis to match your workload. Backups should be stored in a safe location. Backups should be done on well established hardware and
Rule: the simpler the
Backup software can be scheduled to run automatically at particular intervals. However, this method can fail to run. Instead you should manually start the backup routine when you are ready to backup data.
procedure, the more likely it is to succeed. Test your backups on a regular basis. Physically protect your backups. Lock them in a secure location. If thus far, you have managed to avoid a disaster recovery scenario, then consider yourself lucky. Consider this as an opportunity to correct an oversight.
Step up and become the master of your computer instead of the other way.
checked for reliability.