File Management and Protection/Data Protection/Backup techniques

Backup techniques
What is a backup?

Back-up is the computer term meaning to make a copy of any data files which have been created.

How do I make a backup?

Use My Computer, Copy, and Paste to keep a backup copy of Files or Folders (files and folders stay the same, and can be copied onto another storage device easily and used immediately). This could be done on:


 * an external hard drive
 * a USB – Removable Storage Device
 * a CD or DVD if you had a CD or DVD writer

When do I backup my programs and data?

You should back-up regularly depending on how often you enter data.

For example:


 * For daily data entry: at the end of the day, end of the week, end of the month and end of the year (often done at night)
 * For weekly data entry at the end of week, end of the month, end of the year
 * For monthly data entry at the end of each month and end of the year
 * Some businesses will back up only data that has changed during the day e.g. Bank Accounts

What do I do with the backups?

Keep backups securely off site in a fireproof environment which has no heat, no moisture, no magnetic interference. This is so that the data is not corrupted by heat, moisture, magnetic interference. Data is kept off site in case of natural disaster.

Backup and restore

The Backup and Restore function within Windows XP, 7 &amp; 8 creates copies of your most important personal files for safety purposes, which you can restore if the worst comes to the worst. See on the Microsoft website.