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The data stored on your computer is precious to you. Sadly it is also extremely vulnerable to loss or corruption through a host of events. A small child's curiosity, a power surge, spilt liquid or a careless flick of the delete key can all put your data at risk. Most insidious of all, your hard drive is eventually going to fail and probably without much warning. So making a regular backup of your important files is essential.

When backing up your data, the first key decision you must make is what to back up. As a general rule you will probably want to back up files which contain information specific to you, rather than the programs which create them. Things you might want to back up include:

- your word processor documents, such as letters or reports you've written;
- personal projects of any sort such as graphic files;
- financial records;
- your digital photographs (imagine losing all the photos of your children);
- music you've downloaded;
- computer game save files;
- emails and contact information from your email program (like Outlook);
- anything which you cannot replace from a disk or by free download;.

although this is not an exhaustive list. Windows may put files you would like to back up in several locations depending on the type of file and sometimes the preferences you've set. Keep a note of where your important files reside, so that you can easily include them in a backup.

When you know what you want to back up it's time to choose the media to store your files on. There are several options to choose from and one of the following should suit your needs: optical media (recordable CD or DVD), flash drive or an external hard disk. To choose which is best for you, first calculate how much storage your backup will take. Right clicking on a file or folder will allow you to see how large it is. A recordable CD can store about 700 megabytes and a single layer DVD 4.5 gigabytes. You can spread a backup over multiple disks if necessary, but you will need to be around to change disks. Flash drives and portable hard drives come in many sizes, with the latter reaching sizes of over 1 terabyte,

Some versions of Windows (XP professional and Vista home premium or better) have a built in backup tool. Using this tool can automate your backups since it will select which files to backup for you. However it may not be sophisticated enough to include everything you would like to backup. So if you do use Windows' built in backup, double check that it's capturing all the files you intend. To access the Backup and Restore Center in Vista, click start and point to control panel. From there click System and Maintenance and then click Back up your computer. In Windows Xp, click Start, and point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then System Tools. Click Backup.

If your needs are more complex, or you prefer to have full control over what gets backed up, then you'll want to take a manual backup. Whatever version of Windows you use, you can backup any file or folder by right clicking on it, selecting copy from the menu, right clicking the backup destination and selecting paste.

The final thing to consider is the safe storage of your backups. If your backups are next to your computer then they may be vulnerable to anything that happens to your original data. Fire and theft are two obvious examples. If possible keep a backup stored somewhere separate. Remember too that backups have a finite shelf life. Optical disks may only last four or five years for instance. Make sure that your backups are timely and regular therefore and preferably have more than one backup.

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