Winter 2006 Newsletter

Some numbers to start 2006

• Approximately 70% of North Americans make at least one New Year's Resolution
• 92% of New Year's Resolutions won't be kept
• 45% fail to keep their New Year's Resolutions by the end of January

(Source PR9.net)

Now that it's past the bewitching hour and the pressure is off here's our suggestion for a meaningful, worthwhile and EASY to keep promise to yourself. But first, some more numbers:

• Almost 60% of personal computer users have lost an electronic file they thought they had stored properly
• Only 1 in 4 users frequently back up digital files even though 85% say they are very concerned about losing important digital information
• 37% of survey respondents admit to backing up their files less than once per month
• 9% say they have never backed up their files
• More than 22% say backing up their files is on their "to do list", but they seldom, if ever do so

And finally, why are we telling you this?

• A hard drive crashes every 15 seconds
• 2000 laptops are stolen or lost every day
• 32% of data loss is caused by human erro
• 21% of PC users have lost all their C files to events beyond their control
• 44% of data loss is caused by mechanical failures
• 15% or more of laptops are stolen or suffer hard drive failures
• 1 in 5 computers suffer a fatal hard drive crash during their lifetime
• The overall average failure rate of disk and tape drives is 100% - all drives eventually fail!!!!

(Source: Realty Times)

Backing Up Your Computer

As the above statistics indicate computers aren't perfect. Parts can break, files can become corrupt or household disasters such as a flood or fire can destroy your computer. So, the best defense is backing up your data and even storing the saved material in a different location all together.

Let's start with the different ways (or media) to Backup your data for home computer users. There are 6 common alternatives.

CD's:
 Compact disks offer a variety of benefits in that many of the new computers already have CD writing capability and as a storage material (media) is very inexpensive. Transferring data is extremely quick and finally the stored information is readily accessible from virtually all computers. Storage capacity is 650 - 700MB or roughly the equivalent of 300,000 pages of text, 165 songs or 600 photographs.

DVD:
 DVD technologies represent the replacement for CD technology with larger capacity. As the price of DVD's has dropped over the last couple of years they are roughly comparable in price with CD's. They can hold approximately 4.7GB or in the case of dual layer DVD's, 8.5GB. This means they can store between 7 and 13 times more data respectively than a CD. Oh, and by the way, that's a lot of "stuff".

Flash Drives:
 Sometimes known as "thumb drives" or "memory sticks" these are excellent for storing small amounts of data (between 64MB and 2GB).They are portable, can be overwritten to store new data and are easy to use as they can be plugged into any computer with a USB port.

Hard Drives:
 With the price of hard drives dropping and the increasing prevalence of homes with multiple computers in a network, these are becoming an increasingly popular solution.External hard drives are relatively inexpensive and of course, with your home network setup to share files it is easy to move files to a second computer in your home effectively backing them up there. As always, if you are concerned about doing this yourself, we are here to help. Call or just click here to contact our EasyHelp technician.

FTP:
 This solution allows you to upload your data, via the internet, onto a secured server at a third party site located in a protected environment. While this may be the most expensive solution it is also viewed as the highest level of security. In fact, at EasyTechCare we have provided access for you to one of Canada's leading providers of online data back up services at preferential rates. For more information call us and we can point you in the right direction.

Preparing to Back Up your Data:

Congratulations, you've made the right choice by deciding to do this now let's talk about the process.If you haven't already done so in the normal course of using your computer, organizing your files should be your first priority. Backing up your data is easier if you have stored it in just a few folders. If you use any of the Microsoft© operating systems from Windows 95 through to Windows XP you have a folder called "My Documents" that is the default location for many programs to store their files. In later versions some pre-assigned folders already exist like "My Music" and "My Pictures. Imagine the "My Documents" folder is like a filing cabinet within which you can create separate file folders by subject such as "Business", "Personal", "Clubs", "Party Planning", "Household Finances" etc. As you either create new documents or as you clean up your files you should sort and store your data accordingly. Over time you may have also downloaded programs, drivers or updates from the internet and so we would recommend creating a "My Downloads" folder. In this folder you should store and label all of these files. If you ever need to reinstall a downloaded program you be happy you have this folder.

Other data you will probably want to backup include your emails and your Internet Favourites or Bookmarks. These can be found in the following locations.

Email:
This depends on the email program you use.Windows XP Microsoft Outlook Express saves its files to "C:\Documentsandsettings\(user name)\LocalSettings\ApplicationsData\Identities\{identitynumber}\Microsoft\Outlook Express", in files with an extension of ".dbx". Address Books are stored in .wab files. Outlook saves files to "C:\DocumentsandSettings\(UserName)\LocalSettings\ Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst".And finally, Netscape saves your files in "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users|(user name)\Mail".

Internet Favourites or Bookmarks:
Internet Explorer stores your Favourites as individual files in the directory: "C:\Windows\Favorites" or "C:\Documents and Settings\(User Name)\Favorites". Netscape saves your Bookmarks in "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\(user name)\bookmark.htm".

What else should I Backup?

The data we've talked about so far will only save data files, documents and pictures. So, should your hard drive actually fail (and they do) you will need to reinstall the operating system and the programs first, then retrieve the data. One way to save yourself the trouble of reinstalling everything, is to get a program like Ghost from Symantec or Drive Image from Powerquest (or one of many others). These programs will take a snapshot of your drive and save an image of the drive as is. When you have to start over with a blank hard drive, you simply restore the disk image and you'll be up and running, no reinstalling of any programs necessary.

A Final Word:

Last, remember to back up regularly. You don't want to have something happen to your data, then restore your backup just to realize it is 6 months old. Depending how much work you do, back up either weekly or at least monthly. It is also a good idea to store your backups off-site, e.g. in your safe deposit box in your bank, a friends house or anywhere else where they can't be harmed and won't be lost should disaster strike your house. It's your data, keep it safe.

And of course, we can help. Until February 15 we are offering our in-home data backup service for the very special price of $129.45 (Up to 2GB of data). This includes our technician coming to your home with a DVD writer, helping you to organize your files and then creating a backup disc for you. If you have a CD or DVD writer of your own, then we will also help you set up a regular backup routine and schedule so you can always have Peace of Mind knowing that your precious photographs, music collection and your files will be there for you.

As always, as an EasyTechCare member, we are here to help. So, if you have any additional questions, want us to help you go and shop for your computer or want us to get it for you just call or chat with us online. Just click on our new "easyAsk" button on the website and we'll be glad to help.