Let's face it — hard drives do crash. Losing your favorite photos, music, and documents is a nightmare, but it's one that can be prevented with a little planning ahead. Veronica breaks down her top data backup solutions, from local backups to cloud solutions. Get your emergency data solution in order with this week's episode of The Sync Up!
Remember to ask Veronica your burning tech questions in the comments, and get more digital tips from the POPSUGAR Girls' Guide channel on YouTube.
Aah, Facebook. The place where all of our photos, comments, monumental moments, and information are shared online. Ever stop to think about what would happen if Facebook went down — or worse, got hacked? Your Facebook profile most likely holds tons of your most precious photos and videos, and like your computer, you should back up all of that data just in case. Here, I'll tell you how to download all of your Facebook content, from wall posts to photo galleries.
You can download a copy of all of your Facebook data right on the social network. Just head to Account > Account Settings > Download a Copy of Your Facebook Data (this link will be in the bottom left-hand corner of the Account Settings window). Included in the download is your contact info, photos, videos, notes, and wall posts as well as chat conversations, friend lists, events, and comments made on your wall posts. If you do choose to back up your Facebook data (it's recommended!), then be sure to keep it in a safe place, like a password-protected file on an external hard drive.
National Backup Day was just last week, but how many of you actually backed up your computer data? How many of you perform routine maintenance (like software updates) on your computers on a regular basis? According to a new study performed by Zogby International and Staples, not many! Get the details on how Americans feel about their tech IQ, and how to overcome your fears in this slideshow.
Dear GeekSugar,
My mom called me the other day freaking out about a Carbonite commercial, saying I should back up my photos before disaster strikes. I've actually seen the commercials late at night (I have to admit, I find them pretty funny), but can't really wrap my mind around why the service is. I have thousands of photos stored on my laptop and do worry it will quit on me one day and I will be left without copies. Should I use this service? Thanks for your help.
— A Fellow Geeky Gal
Dear Fellow Geeky Gal,
I pleased to hear I'm not the only person who is endlessly entertained by late-night cable commercials! You ask a great question because I've been seeing the company name everywhere. Carbonite is a web service that claims to "automatically and securely back up the irreplaceable contents of your computer" for the yearly cost of about $55. It works for PC and Mac users, but has slightly different set up depending on your system. To find out if I think you — and other readers like you — need it, read more
I'm all "keyed up" over this keyring flash drive. Get it? Keyed? Anyway, I have a thing for flash drives, but my problem (which I'm sure most of you can relate to), is that the things are so small that I end up misplacing them. And let's face it — if I've backed up some important docs on there, that's really not a good situation to be in.
But if I had this LaCie Iamkey 4GB flash drive, then I could back up that important content from my laptop and I'd always know where it is. Well, unless I lost my keys that is.
I know I've got a whole drawer full of flash drives just waiting to be used, so it had me wondering — how many flash drives do you own?
Did you know that Tuesday was "National Clean Out Your Computer Day"? The day devoted to deleting old emails, cleaning up your desktop and backing-up old files to make room for new ones?! Considering backing-up my data made my New Year's Resolutions list this year, maybe it's time I put my new eGo Portable Hard Drive to the test and "back-up!"
The other day Yum reminded me of this hilarious clip from Sex and the City and it brought me back to the good (or not so good) days of laptops crashing and zip drives. The best quote would have to be at the end of the scene with Carrie saying, "After all, computers crash, people die, relationships fall apart. The best we can do is breathe and reboot. And when that fails a little gizmo called a zip drive can provide a surprising amount of comfort." Ain't that the truth?!
And so, I must ask, when was the last time you backed-up?
Just picture it... You are up in the middle of the night finishing off a project, which of course is due tomorrow. All of a sudden, your screen goes blank. You ctrl+alt+del a hundred times, restart your laptop and there it is... the infamous blue screen. Remember when Carrie's laptop crashed on Sex and the City? Heart wrenching! With so many sources feeding your laptop with data (your digital camera, e-mail, cell phone, portable media player, camcorder, PDA) it is essential to use a program such as the SyncToy for Windows XP, which can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories.
Download the SyncToy PowerToy from the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP website.
