Whenever you make a dramatic change to your computer, such as installing a new operating system, reformatting the drive partition, or editing the system files, you need to backup your entire disk. Most of the time, system changes go through with no problems but if you do not back up your drive beforehand, you can lose everything that was on your computer. There are many methods to backing up your computer and each method has its own pros and cons. In this article, we will go over each of these methods so that you can choose the one that is right for you.

Separate Hard Drive

Many computer users choose to install multiple hard drives in their PC. This works great when backing up your files because all you have to do is open My Computer and drag and drop your files directly into your secondary hard drive. Keep in mind, however, that you can only had a secondary internal hard drive on a desktop computer. Laptops are too small to add extra internal hard drives and opening them can void your warranty. Laptops are also too complex to modify as every component is built on top of another component. If you do have a desktop computer, you may want to consider adding an extra internal hard drive as they can make backing up files exponentially easier as well as providing you with extra storage. They are also extremely easy to install and can even operate without an operating system.

External Drive

An external hard drive is basically the same as an internal hard drive but sits on your desk and plugs into your USB port rather than being installed in your computer. External hard drives are fast, portable, and can allow laptop users to enjoy the same conveniences that desktop users with secondary drives have been experiencing for years. External drives are relatively inexpensive and you save more money with larger storage capacities. For instance, you may be able to buy a 300 GB external USB drive for around $60.00 while you may be able to buy a 1 TB external USB drive from the same distributor for $90.00 – $120.00. External hard drives are great for backing up your computer because they provide you with so much storage space as well as the option of moving files back and forth between computers, which internal hard drives are not really made for.

Disks

Another option for backing up your files is to load everything onto rewritable (RW) CDs or DVDs. With modern technology, disks are not usually the preferred method of backing up files but disks are available that allow you to store abound 4 GB of data on each disk. Disks are small, portable, and convenient because you can quickly burn files to them with any CD/DVD burner and then store them anywhere you want. Disks are more vulnerable than hard drives, however, as they can easily be broken or scratched which would cause you to lose all your files.

Disk Image

A disk image is basically a representation of your entire computer. A disk image contains not only a representation of each individual file but also remembers where they go so that when you load a disk image after a system change, everything on your computer will return to normal. If you decide to create a disk image to backup your files, remember to save the disk image on an external device. If you leave the disk image on your computer and your computer crashes, the disk image isn’t going to do you any good.

Hybir Backup

Automatic Online Backup

Automatic Online Backup programs can automatically scan your computer on a regular basis and backup your files to an online server. If your computer ever crashes, you can simply sign into your online account with the automatic backup program and download all of your files directly to your computer. The majority of automatic online backup programs charge quite a bit for their services but there are a few programs out there that are free. Automatic online backup programs often provide you with other features as well such as high levels of security for your online files and interface software that allows you to easily upload, view, and modify the files on your computer and your online server account.