In December 2008 my computer crashed, I called it the great crash of ‘08. I planned on backing my computer up…when I had time… but I never seemed to have time. I lost over two months of work and some cool projects.
I’ve found a system that works so I won’t lose important work again.
1. Use Dropbox
I love Dropbox so much that I would marry it. Dropbox gives you 2 Gigs of free online space.
You have to download and install Dropbox, it then creates a folder in your ‘My Documents’ folder called ‘Dropbox’. It acts as a real folder on your computer. You drag a file into your Dropbox folder and it syncs up with the Dropbox server and any other computer that you install Dropbox on. Your work is now backed up. Dropbox also saves revisions of your documents in case you need an older version.
It’s wonderful.
2. Back-up to a CD or DVD
When I’m working on a project I work directly from the Dropbox folder on my computer. When the project is done I burn it to a CD or DVD and file it away. I know I’m the only person that has ever thought to save work to a CD or DVD, it occurred to me one day in a stroke of genius. Working out of the Dropbox folder then burning CDs from the Dropbox folder will ensure that you never have a great crash of ‘08. My work is backed up and now a computer crash will only set me back a few hours while I reinstall some programs. My work is safe.
I agree that Dropbox is really really good for exactly what Craig suggests. The backing up to CD or DVD makes perfect sense too so that you don’t keep filling up your 2GB of space. Plus, they have an iPhone app so you can look at any of your files while on the go.