Nobody likes backing up, but one day it may save you.  Many don’t relize that the following can actually happen to them.

1.Hard drivecrash.

2.Someone stealing your laptop at a café.

3.You might realize on Friday that you desperately need the now-departed Wednesday version of an important document that you significantly altered on Thursday.

By having a secure, up-to-date backup of your hard drive any of the above issues can be fixed simply.

A few practical strategies to back-up your data

1.USB storage,

2.Back- up via the Internet or through your local network

3.Back- up Windows itself in addition huge media files like songs and videos.

How do you know what to back-up ?

Your hard drive may contain hundreds of thousands of files. So what should be backed up every day and what occasionlly ?

You must look at each filesindividually.

Documents: You should back up the following everyday

1.word processing files

2.spreadsheets and similar documents

Many basic backup program can perform incremental backups, in which the program copies only the files that have changed since the most recent previous backup.

Application data: Apps create and maintain data files such as e-mail messages, browser favorites, calendar entries, and contacts that require daily backing up. Most programs store them in a hidden folder inside your user folder (in XP, C:Documents and Settingsyour nameApplication Data; in Vista, C:Usersyour nameAppData). Also, in XP, Microsoft stores Outlook and Outlook Express data in C:Documents and Settingsyour nameLocal SettingsApplication Data). Fortunately, any well-designed backup program intended for everyday, nonexpert users (as opposed to IT departments) knows where to look for Outlook data.

Media: If your backup medium is sufficiently roomy and fast, you can back up your photo, music, and video files every day. But these large files may require a separate backup strategy.

Heirlooms: Files that you want to keep forever–family photos, the special anniversary card you made for your parents, and so on–need backing up and extra protection.

Your system: You can always reinstall Windows and your apps, if you have the original discs or can download the programs. But if Windows becomes unusable or your hard drive crashes, switching to a system backup (also called a disaster recovery backup) that you create a couple of times a year can get your machine up and running smoothly without much effort.