As someone who has seen quite a few hard drive crashes over the years, I believe that performing a full backup of your computer’s hard drive should be an important part of your weekly (if not daily) routine. There’s nothing more frustrating & costly than trying to restore a computer with only a handful of Floppy disk drives, a couple of scratched CD-ROMs or poorly stored backup tapes.

All too often have I been called upon to try and get a home or office computer working again, only to find that the backup (if any) consists of a few word files and maybe a copy of some accounts data?

Now you might be thinking what’s wrong with that? Aren’t those the important files? Well, yes! But what about your Emails, Address book, all your Desktop/Internet Shortcuts, FTP settings, Anti-Spam & Anti-Popup filters etc.? You’ve spend months if not years getting your PC looking and running just the way you like it and in one split second it’s all gone.

Now assuming you’ve got all these backed-up, just think, how long it’s going to take even for an experienced technician to re-install the Operating System and then all your programs like MS Office etc. and that’s if you can find the original CD-ROMs that came with your PC. Plus what about the programs & updates you downloaded from the Internet and stored on your now crashed hard drive. What a nightmare!

So you do the best you can with what you’ve got and get your PC back to some useable state, but it’s only then you fully realize how poor your backup really was and how much time & money you lost while waiting for your system to be restored, not to mention the repair bill.

But you’re probably thinking to yourself, backups take so long to complete and how can you be sure your backing up all the necessary data? Well, as I see it, the only way you can be guaranteed you’re getting all your data is to create what’s called an image of your system (C:) drive.

By creating an image of your hard drive you are basically taking a snapshot or complete copy of your drive at a moment in time, you can then use that image to restore your system drive with a few clicks of the mouse and in a fraction of the time & hassle than with the earlier example.

You will need to have a second hard disk installed on your PC to store your image. I’d recommend one of equal size to your C: drive, you can use drives with less storage capacity but this would mean you’d probably have to apply compression when creating the image.

You’ll also need a backup software capable of creating drive images. There are numerous softwares available such as True Image from Acronis and Norton Ghost from Symantec to name but a few and most of these will allow you to schedule backups to run even when your away from your PC.

With regularly created full backup images, stored securely on a secondary drive out of harms way you can put your mind at ease and get on with more important tasks safe in the knowledge that when disaster strikes you’ll be more than capable of handling it. With a few mouse clicks you can start the restore procedure, go for a short break (have lunch, stroll around the block, catch up on some phone calls etc.) and in no time you’ll be up & running as if nothing had ever happened.

Give yourself that extra piece of mind and do something about putting a reliable backup system in place right now, because you know it’s not a matter of if your hard drive crashes but when and will you be ready for it?

You need to ask yourself… is your backup good enough?

Jeremiah O’Connell is an IT Administrator with AbbeyIT.net and has helped numerous home & small business users protect their data. For his preferred backup solutions visit: http://www.abbeyit.net/acronis-true-image.asp

We all know we have to backup regularly, but those backups files can get huge. Add that to your existing your files and your notebook computer hard drive seems to have shrunk overnight. No matter what size hard drive you have on your notebook computer, space is a premium. Besides, it’s not exactly a good idea to store your backups on the same hard drive since you can’t retrieve it — rather defeats the purpose of backing up don’t you think? So what do you do, what are your options?

Backup to an external hard drive. This is probably the quickest, most cost effective option. You can often get a removable drive on sale or with rebate for a low price too. You can get one with hundreds of Gigabytes of space too. They can be easy to hookup to your notebook computer. However, do remember that they are hard drives and hard drives can fail. You may find the external backup fails before your notebook computer does.

Online backup. This is actually a good idea because physical disasters can happen to your home. And when that happens, you will always have a copy in a place not affected by the disaster. This is why businesses usually have one backup in the premises and one (or more) off premises. The good thing about online backup is, it’s accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. So if your notebook fails when you’re away from home, you can still retrieve your data.

Many of these services are reasonably priced and they provide you with everything you need to get the backups safely transfered. But because your data will be on someone else’s system, choose a reputable company, one who is not only established but takes customer data confidentiality very seriously.

Network attached storage. This would make more sense if you have several computers. They allow you to not only backup several computers’ data into one location but also ability to share or retrieve files from that central area. You can also achieve a similar effect equipping an older computer with a large hard drive and use it just for storage or backup.

Backup to CD or DVD. This is considered the safest for long term data integrity. External drives and network storage can still crash and prone to virusses. CD’s and DVD’s are also inexpensive. But backing up to disks daily is chore as you’ll find yourself having to manually pop in the disks. It becomes even more hard work when you have a lot of files and your backup spans several disks. The other problem with this method is, backup utilities that come with your operating system cannot backup to a CD or DVD drive. So you’ll have to fork out extra cash to buy a third party backup software that will.

No backup solution is one hundred percent and what you choose of course will depend on how you work. If your data is really important to you, try not rely on one backup source. Create two separate sources if you can afford to, just in case.

Lynn Chan helps new owners learn proper notebook care and use. Start taking care of your investment, with this free course 5 Days To A Healthier Notebook Computer http://www.notebook-computer-infocenter.com/5days-to-a-healthier-notebook.html

Backup on business computers is typically not the user’s concern unless it’s a small business. A business should have a policy in place for managing backups especially due to Sarbanes - Oxyley.

Four options for backing up:

Two options for what to back up:

Personally, I use an external hard drive (this is a 120 gig hard drive, they also have 20 gig, 40 gig, 60 gig, and 80 gig available. I suggest getting one that is 20 gigs bigger than your hard drive.). It saved me when my computer had to be reformatted a few months ago. Typically, the hard drive is supposed to be rebootable and load everything back exactly as it was before the crash.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. It worked out for the best because some of my system files were bad. The hard drive still had my data files and programs. First, I referred to my latest copy from Belarc Advisor. This is a free program that lists all the applications on your computer. Since I don’t have a CD of every program I use, this was handy.

Using this list, I reloaded all applications first starting with the most important working down to the least important. It takes time to load everything, so you won’t want to reload everything in one sitting.

As soon as an application was reloaded, I copied all of its data files from the external hard drive back on the computer. I try to keep all of my data files in as minimal folders as possible. That is where My Documents, My Music, and My Photos comes in handy, but I hate those names. For the most part, I have /docs, /media (with subfolders for music and photos), /sites (for Web-related docs).

Keeping data files in as few folders as possible makes it easier to keep them organized and to find them when you need to restore data.

Programs like Norton’s Ghost, AlohaBob, and NTI Backup Now are useful for creating and managing back ups.

Using a RW-CD and tape back up are also viable solutions. I prefer the external hard drive since I don’t have to use an external media like a tape or CD. No sitting around and waiting for the CD or tape to fill up and inserting the next one.

Thumb drives (portable hard drives) are helpful, but typically can’t hold enough if you have as much data as I do. It’s great for critical data and data that you need at all times.

When buying a USB drive, make sure you have USB 2.0 not 1.1 as most the drives require 2.0.

At a minimium, back up your data files - the products of your work. Have a copy of these file somewhere other than your hard drive. Ideally, I’d like to back up my data on a network server because:

• if my house were on fire (ptpthpthpth), the files are safe on a server located somewhere else.

However, storage is not cheap enough for personal use just yet. I am sure it’s one of the future options we can expect to become a regular part of safe computing.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl’s notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn’t wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

Your customer data is a precious resource that can literally be worth its weight in gold! If used properly, it can be mined over and over for additional sales and referrals. Do you use this gold mine to increase the profitability of your business?

You should! It can mean the difference between business survival and failure.

Why then do so few business owners take the time to ensure that it is adequately protected? Are we too busy? Perhaps you just didn’t know how to protect it, or couldn’t afford the software and hardware required to back up your data correctly.

Ask yourself these questions:

Is there anything more important to my business than my customer data? What would happen to my business if I were to loose all of my data?

Consider this common scenario. A client calls frantic that she’d loose her business if she couldn’t recover her customer data. She had over five years of information on her computer when the hard drive decided to make her life interesting.

So what are her choices? Renter the data manually, if she has any hard copies available. Call everyone and ask for their contact information again, won’t that make them feel secure about her company. Or call a data recovery technician. Their services can start at a thousand dollars and go up rapidly from there!

Windows XP provides a fully functional backup utility, for free! In fact, many of the commercial backup products use this backup to save the data. All you are paying for is the user interface, the window you enter information into.

Before you run the setup wizard, you need to answer a few questions.

What data do I need to backup?

Only backup data that is necessary. Use the KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) method. Your customer database and correspondence should be backed up as a minimum.

How often do I want to back up my data?

How often does your customer data change? Does a significant amount of data change on a daily basis? Weekly?

Where do I want to store my data backup?

Most data backups still use a tape drive to store the data. The problem is that they cost a fortune! The tapes alone are expensive. Alternatives are to store your data backup on another computer on your network or copy it to a CD or DVD writable disk.

Ok, so you want to backup your data. What now? Before we do that review the table below:

Full Backup
* Copies and stores a complete duplicate of your data every time it runs.
* Takes the most time to run and the most storage space.
* Quickest data recovery feature.
* Easiest!

Incremental Backup
* Copies and stores only data changed since the last backup.
* Must be combined with a full backup, and any other incremental backups.
* Most complicated.

Deferential Backup
* Copies and stores data changed since the last full backup.
* Must be combined with a full backup and the last deferential backup.
* Middle of the road.

If you have a relatively small amount of data, I would suggest a daily full backup. If you have a larger amount of data you might combine the full backup with a deferential backup. Simple huh?

The next question is how to store the data backup. Even though it takes a little extra work, I have my clients back their data up to a DVD writable disk. First, set the wizard to back the data up to a folder. Usually this folder is on another computer. Then burn this data to a DVD burner and place the disk it in a secure location for retrieval as necessary.

If you don’t feel comfortable setting this up yourself, any competent PC technician can do it for you.

Whether you do the setup yourself or have it setup by a professional technician you are taking the first step in ensuring the long term survival of your business. Please take the time to do this.

Ultimately your customers don’t care how or why you lost their information, they just care that you did. I’ll leave you with this statistic:

Estimates suggest that 80% of small businesses that suffer a serious computer failure cease trading within two years. Will yours be one of them?

Parrott Writing Services, a San Antonio Texas company specializing in web content, ghostwriting, website optimization, online/offline ad copy and technical writing to small businesses.

http://www.rickparrott.com

Send an email to: EBOOK@sasecure.net for a FREE electronic copy of my eBook on Computer Security!

If You are running an Online Work at home Business it is very critical that you create a well organized directory structure. The Obvious advantage of an organized Directory structure is it makes it easy to find what you need. A Less Obvious but More Important Reason is it makes it easy to back up your Online Business Files if they are all in the Same Place.

A very Simple Directory Structure for an Online Business Mimics a File Cabinet. You would have 3 Level of Directories. Your Top level would be the File Cabinet, Your 2nd Level would be the File Drawers and your 3rd Level would be your File Folders.

Step 1 (File Cabinet)

Decide where to place your Top Level Online Business Directory. I suggest creating a Directory Directly under My Documents called My Online Business. You may want to think of this Top Level Directory as a File Cabinet with many Drawers

Step 2 (File Drawers)

Decide what are your 2nd Level Directories (The Drawers of your File Cabinet). Here are some of my 2nd Level Directories or Drawers

Step 3 (File Folders)

Decide what are the 3rd Level Directories or file Folders Here is what a Finished Directory Structure Might Look Like

• My Documents
• My Online Business

• My Programs
  • My Ad Trackers
  • My Domains
  • My E-mail Accounts
  • My Free Programs
  • My ISP Accounts
  • My Moneymakers
• My Downloads

Now when you want to backup your Business Files all you need to do is copy your Online Business Directory to tape, CD, DVD or some other back-up Device.

About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members

Get Mike’s Newsletter:
http://ewguru.com/newsletter

More Articles by Mike:
http://ewguru.com/tips

Permission Based E_Mail Marketing Methods
http://ewguru.com/hbiz/amazingoffer.html

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

With Adware, SpyWare, E-Mail Viruses, Java Script Viruses and Hardware failures It isn’t a matter of If you will loose your Data it is a matter of When you will loose your Data! By spending a few extra minutes now using a Simple Back Up Strategy, you can save yourself big headaches later.

You Should Always have a Full Backup of your Online Business Directory and all it’s subdirectories for the Last 4 Weeks as well daily incremental backups for a month or More. In Addition you should have Monthly off site Backups. I actually Backup my Entire My Documents Directory. My Tools are:

1. 5 DVD-RWs
2. Sharpie Permanent Marker
3. A Calendar
4. A Stack of DVD-Rs
5. A Small 64 MB USB Hard Drive

Weekly Rotating Backups

• Get a calendar Pick one day a Week (Tuesday). Number each Tuesday from 1-5 over and over

By Following the Above Weekly Rotating Backups Instructions you will always have 5 Weeks of backup.

Monthly Offsite Backups

On the Last Friday of the Month burn your Entire My Documents folder to a DVD-R and store it Offsite. Use your Sharpie Permanent Marker to wtite the Month and Year of the Backup.

Daily Incremental BAckups

For Daily Incremental Backups use a Small 64Mb USB Hard drive (Lately it seems you can’t buy anything smaller then 256MB I Have seen them on sale for about $15) . A CD-RW or DVD-RW will work just as well as a USB Hard Drive. It just seems easier and faster to copy to the USB hard Drive.

1. create 12 Directories on the USB Hard Drive one for each Month Jan, Feb., …. Dec..
2. Every Time you create a File in your Business Directory place a copy of it in the proper month on the USB Drive.
3. If you run Out of room on the USB drive simply Empty the Directory of the Oldest Month. ( So If you run out of room in September and you have Data in May, June July and August. Simply Delete all the Files in May. If you still need room delete all the Files in June then July. If You still need room buy another USB Hard Drive.

By following the above Backup system you will always be know I am fully protected when that dreaded Disk Crash, Virus, or even Gremlins cause some or all of your data to be lost. For Many people CDRs and CDRWs work just as well. If your Online Business Directory is Small enough you can simply burn a New CD every week. You can use a Similar system with Zip Drives or even Tape. The Key is to do some sort of back up of your critical business files on a regular basis.

About The Author:
Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members

Get Mike’s Newsletter:
http://ewguru.com/newsletter

More Articles by Mike:
http://ewguru.com/tips

Permission Based E_Mail Marketing Methods
http://ewguru.com/hbiz/amazingoffer.html

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

Spyware elimination software is designed to detect and eliminate spyware. A large number of spyware elimination software products are available. Some of them are available as freeware and some as shareware. Shareware can be used for a specified period, usually 30 days.

One must evaluate and compare the features of different spyware elimination software products before selecting one. Some of the features of an effective spyware elimination software product are:

* It should give a list of detected spyware, to enable users to allow them to decide, about which ones they want to delete.

* Auto update ensures that the software automatically downloads the latest spyware definition file.

* Auto scheduling means that the system is scanned for spyware at defined intervals automatically.

* The "undo" facility allows the user to remedy accidental deletion of useful files.

* The product should provide real-time protection. It should prevent installation of spyware, instead of just deleting it when it is detected.

* The software should be effective in detecting and deleting, the different types of spyware.

* The product should be easy to download, install, navigate and use.

* Product support ensures that there is someone you can call or e-mail, whenever you have a problem.

* The right spyware elimination software will ensure your privacy and keep your computer free of advertisements.

Some of the most popular spyware elimination software products are: Spyware Eliminator, Spyware Doctor, MS AntiSpyware, McAfee, Pest Patrol, Spy Sweeper, Counterspy, Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy etc.

The most popular personal firewalls include McAfee Firewall, Norman Firewall, Windows Firewall, Surf Secret, Sygate Firewall, Zone Alarm, Outpost Pro, and Norton Firewall etc.

Spyware Eliminator

Spyware Eliminator is one of the most popular spyware elimination software products. It also provides you with anti-virus and anti-Spam capability and prevents malicious software from entering your PC.

It gives users specific threat recommendations and its consumer ware facility identifies legitimate ad ware companies and their software. The user then has the option to delete this software or to keep it. Spyware Eliminator is particularly effective in dealing with cleverly concealed, self re-generating spyware and adware.

Click to find a daily updated blog of articles and news about spyware ! Get advice and information about how to protect your computer from attack, and disinfect it.. Click http://www.spyware-101.com/

It’s important to understand that any time an Access client disconnects unexpectedly, it may set a "corruption flag" in the .mdb file indicating that the database is in a corrupt state (regardless of whether any data has actually been corrupted or not). Any user who attempts to open the database while this flag is set will receive a message, and the database will have to be repaired before it can be used. If the users don’t have permission to perform the repair, or don’t know how to perform the repair, there may be significant downtime before the database is available again. This can result in a loss of productivity as well as extreme frustration for the users. Following the 5 tips below will minimize your odds of data loss from corruption in your Access databases.

1) Split your database.

The single most important thing you can do to prevent corruption in MS Access databases is to split the database into a "front-end" and a "back-end". The front-end contains all of the forms, queries, and reports, while the back-end contains only the data tables. A copy of the front-end is placed on each user’s computer, and the back-end with the table data is stored in a shared folder on the network. How does this prevent corruption? Well, consider the amount of information that must make it across your network to your computer each time you open a form or report. If one bit of that information doesn’t make it intact, you risk corrupting your database. Alternatively, if the forms, queries and reports are all stored on your local computer, then the only bit of information that needs to traverse the network is the actual table data. By reducing the amount of data you need to move back and forth across the network, you significantly reduce the chances of corrupting your database. If you’re having corruption problems with an Access database on a network drive, splitting the database is the single most important thing you can do to stop it.

2) Don’t hold connections open.

This one applies to both programmers and users. If you’re a programmer, make sure you close your connections as soon as possible after using them. Leaving the connections open will allow more opportunities for an "unexpected" dropped connection. The only time you may want to leave a connection open longer than required would when it’s used inside a loop. For such a case, open the connection at the beginning of the loop, and then close it after the loop is completed. Just make sure it gets closed for all cases (including exceptions).

If you’re using a Microsoft Access database or application, be sure to close it when you’re finished. Again, leaving the application open provides the opportunity for corruption if a network connection is lost. Remind users to always close the application before going home, as nightly backup jobs may fail or cause corruption in the shared file if there are open connections.

3) Exit the database correctly.

Always close the database or application correctly. Ctrl-Alt-Delete/End Task can wreak havoc on Access databases. Whenever possible, complete your tasks, then close the application using the File - Exit menu option or alternative Exit option provided by the application.

4) Don’t skimp on hardware.

Remember that the corruption flag can be set from the slightest packet loss between your computer and the database file. MS Access has sometimes been called "the canary in the coal mine". It has gained this reputation from being the first application to "die" when there’s the slightest hint of trouble on your network. Just like the slightest presence of gas caused the canary to die, the slightest presence of network problems and packet loss can kill your Access applications. Make sure you’re not using the cheap built-in NICs that come with some PCs. Instead, use brand name network cards. The same goes for cheap hubs. Whenever possible, match good brands of equipment throughout your network.

5) Compact and repair regularly.

Performing the built-in compact and repair function regularly is recommended to prevent corruption and improve performance. Consider automating this function with a utility to compact and repair all of your databases nightly or during the weekend.

Error messages to look out for - the following error messages may signal database corruption:

"The database ‘databasename.mdb’ needs to be repaired or isn’t a Microsoft Access database file."

"Record(s) can’t be read, no read permissions on ‘databasename.mdb’"

"Unexpected Error 35012"

"Unrecognized database format ‘databasename.mdb’."

"‘databasename.mdb’ isn’t an index in this table. Look in the Indexes collection of the TableDef object to determine the valid index names."

"The Microsoft Jet database engine could not find the object ‘databases’. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and path name correctly."

"The database has been placed in a state by user ‘’ on machine ‘’ that prevents it from being opened or locked"

"Disk Error — Reserved error (-1601)"

"The database has been placed in an unexpected state."

"Record(s) cannot be read; no read permission on ‘MSysObjects’"

"Record(s) cannot be read; no read permission on ‘MSysACEs’."

"The Microsoft Jet database engine cannot find the input table or query ‘MSysAccessObjects’. Make sure it exists and that its name is spelled correctly."

Conclusion:

While you may never be able to prevent all Microsoft Access database corruption, you should be able to stop 98% of the problems before they occur by following these 5 simple tips. Follow these tips and implement a prudent automated backup schedule to minimize your odds of significant data loss.

Kevin Sparks is a technical writer for Kaizen Software Solutions, the producer of Digital DBA, an automated MS Access monitoring, backup, and compact/repair utility. For more information, visit their website at http://www.kzsoftware.com/products/digitaldba

Eventually, everyone faces a data disaster. Are you ready? Unless all of your electronic files are expendable, you should be making backup copies of your most important data on a regular basis.

"Your backup is as important as your data and your time—because that’s what it’s going to cost you if you lose it," says Cheryl Frogley-Rawson, an IT consultant with Helpin’ Out, a computer support company for small businesses and individuals. "Even if you have hard copies, it’s going to cost you time to enter the information again."

·Back up regularly, back up often. It is important that you get into the habit of backing up your files on a regular basis. Just having things stored on your hard drive is not enough. A computer crash, a virus, or a hard drive failure can wipe out everything. Don’t make this simple mistake! Back up everything at least once a week. Daily is better. If you use your computer daily, it is best to back up important files daily and other data weekly. At the absolute minimum, back up your files monthly.

·Keep several backup copies. Never back up over a prior backup copy - keep several copies over time so that you can back up more than one version if necessary. Remember, a problem that is backed up will remain a problem when restored!

·Be selective. You don’t have to do a total system backup. In fact, why waste your time backing up all those executable program files when you can easily re-install them from the original media in case of a problem. Just back up your important files. Backing up the entire hard drive is time-consuming, not practical, and should not be done. A backup of specific data files is the way to go.

·Know what’s really important. The most important things to copy are files you create yourself. Be they text documents, e-mail messages, pictures, or game saves, if you made them, be sure to keep their current backup handy. Beyond that, it’s helpful to back up the configuration settings for any programs you use, along with critical Windows data such as the registry.

·Organize your folders. Backing up is easy if you set your folder structure properly. It’s faster and easier to back up if all your files and subfolders are in a single folder, rather than having your documents scattered across the hard drive. The My Documents folder is a good place to store files on any Windows computer. When all your personal files are in one place you are less likely to forget a file when you back up. Organization can be the key.

·Use backup software to automate your everyday backup tasks. You don’t have to copy your files manually. You can accidentally omit something, or simply make a mistake. A decent backup program creates the backup of your data reliably and automatically, and it will notify you in case of any problem, and will log the backup activity in detail. In addition, there are a lot more useful features, all usually for a very low price.

Willson Peterson is computer expert and network engineer. He is the author of “How to backup your computer data.”

Click here ==> http://www.ebookarticle.com to visit his website.

Copyright 2005 Willson Peterson. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact.

The Hurricane Katrina Disaster has lessons for all business owners. Now is a Good time to look over your Disaster recovery plan and see if it would survive a Hurricane Katrina Type Disaster. You may be surprised how easy and cheap it is to have a Disaster Recovery Plan that will protect your business from all types of Disasters from simple theft to a Hurricane Katrina Like Disaster.

As a small business paying for 3 backup data centers might be more like taking a Ferrari to a bicycle race. For many small businesses the key is to have critical data ready and available as soon after a disaster strikes as possible. If you run your business off a computer or even a server then an offsite back-up of key customer and vendor data is a minimal requirement for a good Disaster Recovery Plan.

Most of your Major Fortune 1000 Companies have extensive off site back up plans. A company based in St Louis for example may contract with 2 or 3 companies around the country to provide essential computer services in case a Disaster occurs in St. Louis that makes it impossible for their Data Centers to continue to function in St Louis.

Major Companies in St Louis may have backups in 2 or 3 remote sites like Chicago, New Jersey and Arizona. These Sites are located in different directions and distances from St Louis. Once a year this company may send key Data Center employees to these location to test the back up plan.

As a small business paying for 3 backup data centers and running annual test might be more like taking a Ferrari to a bicycle race. For many small businesses the key is to have critical data ready and available as soon after a disaster strikes as possible. If you run your business off a computer or even a server then an offsite back-up of key customer and vendor data is a minimal requirement for a good Disaster Recovery Plan.

At one time My own personal Disaster Recovery Plan consisted of placing a tape back-up weekly in a safe deposit box in a bank a few miles from my home based business location. If the Area of my home had suffered a Hurricane Katrina like Disaster even if the bank and the contents of that safe deposit box survived the Disaster that backup may not be available to me for weeks or months. Clearly a delay of weeks or months could mean the end of my business.

Keeping Data in an Off Site Local location is still a good idea so you can have fast access to your data and recover from small disasters like fire or theft that only effect your location. Clearly in light of what we learned from Katrina you may want to mail a DVD backup to a trusted friend or relative in another part of the country. A 2nd solution you may want to consider is a service that backs up your computer daily via the Internet. Clearly you would want to make sure the provider you choose for this service is not lo acted across town.

A lesson to learn from Hurricane Katrina is that 1 or even 2 back-up plans may not be enough. You need to judge how valuable your business is to you and possibly mail a DVD to one or more trusted associates in remote off site lo actions and still maintain a local and Internet back ups as well.

While you may not be able to fly cross country for a week to test your back up plan, you could test your back-ups by trying load them on a ‘clean’ computer.

About the Author
Mike Makler Offers Financial Services (Mortgages,Life Insurance, Annuity) in Florissant Missouri which is in North St. Louis County Missouri Just Across the Bridge from St. Charles Missouri

Call Mike at 314 398-5547

Visit Mike’s Web Page:
http://ewguru.com/finance

For Missouri Specific Insurance and Loan Questions:
http://ewguru.com/Mo-Finance

Get Mike’s Newsletter Here
http://ewguru.com/fin-news

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler