There are moments in our computer usage that are memorable, the first connection to the internet, preparing accounts, producing publicity material for print or for the web. These are all good positive experiences which demonstrate the benefits of having a computer system in the home or workplace.
There are also other types of experiences which are not so memorable, such as losing the power lead for your lap top , which is expensive to replace, and results in not having your lap top available to you, but this pales into insignifigance in comparison to the experience of the person who loses all their data .
This person has an experience that they will not forget for a long time, it is a physical sensation that starts somewhere between the hips and the bottom of the rib cage which then creeps upwards until it reaches the head and that sensation turns into the realization that weeks, months or years of work are not accessible anymore. The gnawing sensation that settles in the stomach of this person is one that does not go away easily.
Fortunately, this is completely avoidable, if computer users regularly backup the data on their computers, I know some people reading this article will think I am speaking about them, this is not the case. This is a general situation and one that can easily be addressed.
To provide minimum protection, the contents of a computer system needs to be backed up onto an external drive or USB stick. More complete solutions for businesses, who depend on access to their data for their livelihood are provided by back up systems and into the future will also be provided by Cloud Computing. These systems have more than one copy of the data available and the data is backed up in a way which will insure against loss of the backup itself.
Computer technicians can and do retrieve data. It takes time and skill and therefore is expensive. In any case the best way of avoiding the scenario of having to pay someone to retrieve your data is to make and keep effective backups. If this raises any questions, do call in, as a tenner spent now could save hundreds or thousands in the future.
