HOW TO BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER

Anyone who’s ever lost an important file knows just how crucial backups can be. They’re one of those things that you might only use once or twice in your lifetime, but when the day comes that you urgently need to recover a file, you’ll be relieved you had the foresight to plan ahead.

Backing up your data is tantamount to making a spare key for your car — you’re basically making a copy of something important in case you ever lose the original.  Although backing up is essentially saving something twice just in case it’s lost, this article is about more than just saving a couple important files.

If you’re not immediately prompted to use your external drive as a backup, do this:

Let's see How....

Open the Start Menu, type “backup” into the search box and choose “Backup and Restore” from the results. In the window that pops up, click on the “Set Up Backup button,” select the drive that you just plugged in and click Next until you reach the final window. On the last window, click “Save Settings and Run Backup.”

**Note: if this is the first time you’re backing up your system, it’ll take a while. Do it at a time when you won’t be going anywhere and won’t need to unplug your computer.

That’s it! Once you’ve finished the setup process, your computer will automatically create backups of your system whenever the backup drive is plugged in and available.

However, while this method will protect you from unexpected hard drive issues and accidental deletions, backing up on a physical disk still makes your data vulnerable to fires, floods, and toddlers playing with magnets. If you want truly accident-proof backups, back your system up in the Cloud.