The Religion of Backing Up

What do cd-r's, usb/thumb drives, webmail accounts and external hard drives have in common? They're all ways to back up your work.

You should always, always, always back up whatever it is you're working on. Turning on the back-up function on your computer is all well and good but what happens if, heaven forbid, your computer falls under a truck? There go your backup files. Which is why you should backup externally as well.

Each of the things you can use for backing up has pluses and minuses. Here's a small sampling of thoughts on the positives and negatives of each.

Webmail accounts are good because they're free and functional. You can just email yourself a copy of your manuscript, but some of us don't like the idea of our manuscripts being on the web, possibly vulnerable to hackers or viruses.

Cd-r's are good because they can't be written over, but they have to be stored. In most cases, people keep them in the same place as their computer, but if at all possible, take your cds to a different location--a friend's house or a safe deposit box if you have it. Also, cds don't last forever. If you think you're going to use something old, write it onto a new cd every couple of years at least.

Thumb/USB drives are handy and portable so you can pop it in your purse and have it with you wherever you go, but they tend to have relatively low memory, so you can only usually have your current work in progress in them, which might be all you need.

External hard-drives have loads of memory but they're bulky, so the same storage and portability issue apply.

If you'd like more opinions on the pluses and minues, have a look at the comments section of this blog post I did.