The same machine can be used for a variety of purposes depending on which software programme it is running. Computers are used for creative work such as creating graphics and engineering drawings, breaking down complex mathematical equations, carrying out very difficult calculations, maintaining accounts, sending emails, transferring pictures and chatting with people sitting in another continent.
Computers use a hard drive to store all their user data as well as the operating system and software application programmes. These hard drives can crash or stop working due to many software or hardware errors. The users often delete a file by mistake and empty the recycle bin before realising what they have done. The disks may even get formatted and lose all their data.
There may be virus attacks or cases of software corruption. An optical CD may break into pieces or get twisted of shape when accidentally exposed to intense heat. There may be a fire that roasts digital devices. A power spike may fry hard disk circuitry.
The best way to protect your data is to take its regular backup. However copying files every day is a tedious and boring chore that many people shy away from. To reduce the burden, one should only backup files that are difficult to be replaced or those which will cause major inconvenience or financial damage if lost. The following types of files are good candidates for backing up regularly.
Address Book
Address books are very important files. They contain names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of hundreds of your personal and official contacts. These are compiled painstakingly over the years and are very difficult to replace if they get lost. Collecting the contact details again will take a lot of time and effort and cause great inconvenience.
Letters and Correspondence
Old letters to you friends and relatives as well as official correspondence with your business contacts constitute precious data that has to be preserved for future reference. Often, these letters contain important facts or give some proposals that you have to consult in future. In many companies, email is the main medium through which employees and management contact each other. Such correspondence and personal letters have to be protected from data loss.
Family and Travel Photos
Many camera manufacturers have stopped the production of film cameras. Instead, they have totally switched on to digital cameras. The pictures that these cameras take are stored in a chip. The problem is that this chip gets overflowing after a 100 or so pictures. After this, the photos have to be transferred to a computer hard disk for safe-keeping. These photos, especially those related to travel or family functions such as weddings, just cannot be replaced. They are very precious records of the time gone by and it is very important to take their regular backups to guard against data loss.
Audio and Video Files
These days, video clips and songs are stored in a digital format. Users are supposed to purchase them online through their credit cards and download them to their computer hard disk or the MP3 player. People who are in love with movies or music manage to collect thousands of such files over the years. These represent a lot of investment of money and time over the years. Their abrupt loss can pose a major problem because these files would take a lot of effort to be collected again one by one. It is better to keep a backup of audio and video files rather than face data loss.
Manuscripts and Articles
There are many people who have a habit of randomly penning their thoughts. Some write poems. Others write stories or small articles. There are serious writers too who write books. This kind of work is intense intellectual activity that takes a lot of time and concentration to produce. Its loss is a serious setback because it may not be possible to create the work of same quality again. A book manuscript that got lost can be a very frustrating and depressing experience for the author. Therefore, a backup should be kept of all your intellectual output that is stored on a computer hard disk.