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Even before September 11th, it was important to regularly back-up your computer files. Now, it seems to be a “given”, but some people still haven’t gotten the message. So, here it is once more:

BACK-UP. BACK-UP. BACK-UP.

I have thousands of files.
How can I back them up efficiently and economically?

The answer is REMOVABLE STORAGE.

3 very good solutions are Zip drives, SmartMedia and CompactFlash memory cards. You can think of the memory card as a “floppy disk” with gargantuan capacity. A 64 MB card holds as much data as 45 floppy disks. The only drawback is that the memory cards need a compatible reader to be accessed by your computer. PC card adapters are available for laptops and are inserted into the PC card slot (normally at the side of the laptop).

SmartMedia and CompactFlash are also used in digital cameras. Think of these as “electronic film”. Depending on the resolution you use when taking pictures, select the appropriate capacity card. Cards with more space can hold either 1) more pictures at low or medium resolutions or 2) fewer pictures at higher-resolution.

Other recommended forms of back-up are re-writable CDs, Sony Memory Sticks, multimedia cards, and tape back-up devices. Remember, you only need to back-up your DATA, not all your programs. Backing-up Windows alone can take upwards of 20 (64 MB) CompactFlash cards depending on your system. .