Hi everybody. I am always preaching to our customers about how important it is to back up your files and pictures. Backing up should be part of your regular maintenance. There are many ways to do this but if you do not use a method you are comfortable with, you will probably not perform the backups as often as you should. I generally recommend backing up weekly or more often if you add a lot of pictures or music. I will describe some of the best ways to achieve this in this column.

One of the easiest ways to do a basic backup is by using a simple flash drive. These simple devices plug into your USB port on your computer. The drive will then show up as a removable drive in you’re my Computer folder. You can then simply drag and drop or copy and paste your photos and documents from your main drive C to your new removable drive you just installed. Once you have backed up the files you want to save, you can remove the flash drive from the computer and put it in safe location.

If you do not like the idea of using a piece of hardware to store your files, there are online options as well. If you want to do a full backup of every file on your computer, Carbonite is probably a good bet. The program is installed on your computer and once you create an account, you can go through the options and choose what folders you want to back up. This process can take a very long time to complete. It is not uncommon for the program to run days at a time to get all your information in the “cloud”. One drawback of this program is that it will slow down your system. This is especially true if the backup is running while you are trying to work. We have seen some older or slower computers really bogged down while running Carbonite. Bear this in mind when making your back up decision.

I would like to introduce you to one more backup solution. It is called Sky Drive. One of things I like best about this product is the fact that you can either use it web based or you can install the app. If you have Windows XP, you can only use the program web based. If you have Vista or Windows 7, you can use the program as an app that you download. This program is great in the fact that you use simple drag and drop to get your pictures and documents saved to the cloud. With this product, you create folders and then drag your individual files into the folder in order to upload them. Microsoft gives you 7 gigs free and there are paid options if you need more space then that. I put the program to the test and results were excellent. Of course your individual results will vary depending on your Internet connection speed.

Another great feature of Sky Drive is that you can view all your uploaded photos on your I Phone! All you have to do is download the SkyDrive app from the I Tunes store on your phone. The app is free. Sign in with your Windows Live ID and you’re in. You can even upload pictures that you take on your phone to share with others or yourself on your computer. What more could you ask for, especially for free. You can download Sky Drive at https://skydrive.live.com.

Author: Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer  More at  www.ComputerGeeksOnline.net