Digital Photo Backups |
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Last Updated: December 28, 2007
Making Backups of Your Pictures
It's risky to have only one copy of your photos on the computer's hard drive. A computer virus, theft, fire, flood, lightning strike, or other natural disaster could erase your entire collection. That is why a second or third copy is needed.
I prefer having two backups; one on an external hard drive connected to the computer and another one on DVDs stored off-site.
The external hard drive is a fast and convenient way to make a backup. I only turn it on before the scheduled weekly backup on Sunday night. By Monday morning, all of my hard drives have been backed up. How easy is that? Because it is so easy, I know I have a good backup that is no more than a week old. Unfortunately, backing up to an external hard drive still leaves me susceptible to theft or other disaster.
I make a backup to DVDs and store them off-site about two or three times a year. I haven't spent as much time as I should to make this an easier process so that maybe I'll make monthly backups. My off-site location is the office, but a friend's or relative's house is another alternative. Just make sure the same fire, flood, hurricane, or other natural disaster won't destroy the off-site copy as well.
See the backup software, external hard drive and the DVD burner section of this web site to learn more.