And music and pictures and videos and documents...
Are you backing up your stuff? Your computer can hold many gigabytes(GB) of data. Some folks just keep downloading and creating, but never save their stuff so if their computer gets a bad virus or just crashes, they lose it all.
Save yourself the headaches and buy an external hard drive to copy your music and "goodies" to.
Seagate makes a good product. I have had varying experiences with Verbatim and Maxtor. I cannot speak to other manufacturers. Check ZDnet or Cnet for reviews. Not to mention Amazon.com.
You can get a good 500GB external hard drive at Office Depot for between $80 and $100, depending on the sales at the time.
These days you only need to get one that connects by USB 2.0. They will charge you more for one that connects with USB 3.0. It won't hurt to use 3.0 on your computer. You just won't get any faster speeds.
Save yourself the sadness of losing your huge and expensive iTunes collection, not to mention all of those pictures. We had a student who had shot over 40GB of school pictures, including the big Air Show and she lost most of it when her computer was set down on a magnet. Yup, it is just that easy to lose it all!
Can't say I didn't warn you...
I just stumbled across your blog and look forward to future posts. My son is in 6th grade now, so your tips will be filed for the future. In the meantime, I wonder what your take is on Dropbox or setting up Google Sync for MS products.. specifically for students. I use both and rest a little easier knowing I have back-ups in the cloud. I also use a Maxtor external hard drive for backups though, just to make sure my bases are covered... The Flickr (I think that is the right picture site) debacle earlier this year showed that saving in the cloud is only as good as the company back-ups.
ReplyDelete-Melinda Whetstone
I am a huge believer in redundant backups. I use Dropbox and Google documents as "cloud" storage. I have also used the Windows Live site. But, I always have a local backup of anything that I would be sad about, if I lost it.
ReplyDeleteIf one is semi-organized and willing to make a checklist of sites that you can backup to, it's a great idea to take advantage of the free options at many of these. Just be sure the site has been around a while and there are no glaringly bad news stories or user reviews about them.
Plus, YOU have to be proactive about remembering to backup to the sites. Automatic backups may cost you money and may not always run when scheduled due to internet outtages or unexpected site maintenance. Yes, you would get more storage, but you still have to manage it!
You could use one for school documents, one for family photographs and one for "whatever".
I do like the Google Sync plugin for MS Office. Here is the link for more information:
http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/google-cloud-connect-2/
Be warned, though: These backup sites can disappear over-nite and take your data with them. Or, they could be bought by a company that has no scruples about sharing your information with others. I am just not convinced they are secure from a privacy standpoint, so backup carefully to the cloud. If you post your password list or the secret codes to the Defense Department, that info may go traveling where you do not want it to go.
But, I still believe in a local external drive with your stuff on it. April 27 in Tuscaloosa reminded us again that "The Cloud" is not always with us.
Anyone else have an opinion?