Need a recommendation for a trusted and reliable backup service to protect your data, programs and content files?
The new year is a great time to get your computer and data management squared away.
The best way to keep a clean machine is not to have any files on there in the first place.
Then if you get hit with a virus or your device breaks, it won’t matter because your data is backed up safe and sound. All you have to do is log into your backup service and restore the files.
Sounds time consuming and overwhelming? No worries. You don’t have to back up everything on your computer.
What you choose to back up really depends on your preferences and purpose.
- You can back up your computer’s personal settings if you like. But you don’t have to.
- You can back up apps or programs that you use. Yes I’m dating myself by saying “programs”.
- You can back up images. If you take a lot of pictures of family, friends and activities you’ll probably want to save these.
- If you collect, save, edit and publish images for your work, you’re definitely going to want to back these up.
- If you run websites and blogs, you’re going to want to back up your WordPress files and content.
- Any files that you use for school, business, work or management of your life should be backed up.
- Music, movie, and video files that you wish to keep can also be backed up.
- You can even back up your desktop. If you’re forced to return to factory settings, it’s nice to be able to have the desktop return to the exact way that you left it.
How to save valuable space when backing up your data:
Purge your files periodically. Most of us take a whole mess of pictures every time we attend an event and then we do a photo dump.
It’s better to delete those outtake photos that don’t make the cut rather than just backing up everything because you think you might need it.
This applies to more than just image files. These days you get options to back up all of your text messages. There’s really no need for this.
Try to do a quarterly cleanout of your files at the very least before backing up.
How to get started backing up your computer?
Backblaze is a great data backup solution. It’s both affordable and reliable.
Start by signing up for an account with them. You’ll receive an email that contains your login and password.
Anytime you want to manage your backups, you just log in.
The first time you back up your files, you have to give the Backblaze service access to your machine.
It’s going to connect to your computer and then, if you have a lot of files, it will spend a lot of time uploading them to the remote server.
The files will be saved in folders and the folder will be named according to your computer name. If you don’t have a name for your computer it might generate an automated numeric name for this device.
If you ever need to access data that you have lost, you can do so by logging in to Backblaze and downloading the content to your computer
Can you back up data from your phone?
Yes, you certainly can. This will count as a second device. Inside the Backblaze member area you will be able to add a new device to back up.
Something you might want to consider is duplicates. If you have a lot of the same data on your phone that you have on your computer then you might choose to uncheck certain file folders for the backup because it’s going to eat up the total storage space.
So decide if you only want to back up images from your phone and not your computer. Or vice versa. It depends on how you manage your own content.
Walking through the first time you back up your files:
The first time you back up, you might think something’s wrong. It will seem to take forever. If you have a lot of files and programs that you’re backing up, your first backup could take hours.
However, the next time you back up, Backblaze will only update files that have been changed. So it’s not going to take a second copy of a file that you have not edited.
That means that backup number two and all backups thereafter will be relatively quick and painless.
Again, the new year is a great time to organize all of your content and files and make sure everything is protected. You’ll have a fresh start for the next 12 months.
Need a recommendation for reliable backups? Try Backblaze.
Try Backblaze now and see how you like it. You can always cancel if it’s not right for you.
I’m Dina, and I’ve worked as a freelance copywriter online since the year 2004. If you’re new to the online business or work from home scene, stay in touch. I have made many mistakes along the way, but now I’m able to teach you as a result of what I have learned.