As you use your computer you will accumulate stuff.
Stuff is a mix of all sorts of things collected from the internet, emails and your camera, as well as stuff you have created using the computer.
As you collect more stuff, the fear of losing something precious increases.
A second copy of your stuff in a separate place is all that is required. Keeping a backup of your whole hard drive is overkill.
If you have used previous versions of Windows, you should be familiar with the My Documents folder. It usually contains most of your stuff. Your starting point is backing up this folder.
You will notice that using Windows Explorer in Windows 7, your documents are displayed in the Libraries / Documents folder as My Documents. There is a similar setup for Music, Pictures and Videos. There is an assumption that you will use the modern folder arrangement!
Next, you may want to keep a backup of your emails and addresses (contacts). These are not so easily seen in Windows Explorer.
If you have used previous versions of Windows, you should be familiar with Windows Explorer.
To find all your folders and files you need to re-configure Windows Explorer.
There are many ways to open Windows Explorer. If you have not done this before, click the Start button and click Computer. At the top left of the screen click Organise. Under General, tick Show all folders. Under View, click Show hidden files, folders or drives. Untick Hide extensions for known file types. Click OK at the bottom.
Templates are not found in the My Documents folder.
The following are the minimum folders / files to be backed up and where they are located ...
Documents C:\Users\<username>\Documents
Pictures C:\Users\<username>\Pictures
Music C:\Users\<username>\Music
Videos C:\Users\<username>\Videos
Templates C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
Favorites C:\Users\<username>\Favorites
Mail C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
Other files for example C:\Program Files\WS_FTP\WS_FTP.ini
These folders assume Microsoft Office and MS Office Outlook mail client.
Check that all templates, forms etc are in the Templates folder. This is where they are kept by default.
Then think about other options.
You may wish to split up documents or pictures into other folders.
The first option is to put your backup in a separate folder on the hard drive; for example C:\Backup. This is better than nothing but not really good enough. A backup needs to be on a separate device which is easily portable.
In the past, storing copies of stuff was difficult. Copying to floppy discs and CDs was problematic with a lack of real confidence in their future reliability. External storage devices have become affordable and reliable, resolving this problem. A small capacity device is the pen drive or memory stick which plugs into the USB port. Pen drives typically range in capacity from 1Gb to 16Gb and more, but the higher capacities are expensive. As a backup device they soon become inadequate.
Portable hard drives are available which have very large capacities. They typically range in capacity from 40Gb to 500Gb and more. These pocket devices plug into the USB port. If you want portability, avoid those larger desktop units which often require a separate power supply. Also available are network storage devices which plug into your network and have other useful features.
To take the pain out of backing up, you should use a backup program. This allows you to define what you backup and set a schedule.
How often you backup your stuff is up to you. If you are writing your opus you will probably want to backup after every paragraph. Your level of paranoia will soon determine a reasonable schedule.
A simple, good, freeware backup program is SyncBack (a copy is available – click here). For details, follow this link ... http://www.2brightsparks.com. SyncBack backs up your stuff in its original form, not requiring a special technique or program for retrieval.
The first time you use SyncBack to backup a folder to your storage unit, all files in the source folder and sub-folders will be copied and this takes some time. Subsequent backups check to see if the source file exists on the destination. If so and the date and time are identical, the file is skipped, otherwise the newer source version is copied over the destination version. The process of backing up will be quite quick once the initial backup has been completed as checking the timestamp of a file is quick.
To state the obvious, your storage unit's capacity will determine the size limit of your backup.
SyncBack does not save several old versions of files.
Consider the situation when you are creating your opus. It could be a book or a picture collage or whatever. Most word processors have a ‘Save a backup’ option but this usually saves only the last version, not multiple versions. Most other programs do not offer this option.
For maximum protection you may want sequential versions of an evolving file, happening every few minutes (depending on your paranoia).
Use ‘Save as’ and edit in the amended version number.
This will allow you to have opus0, opus1, opus2 and so on. If the number of versions becomes ridiculous you can decide on the number of versions to keep, say five or ten or whatever. Every time you click ‘Save as’, increment the version number 0 through 4, or 0 through 9 and then start at 0 again. This is a pain but it works. At your next session, check the time and date of the set to ensure you open the latest version and continue the process. This technique gives you the option of going back to an old version and starting again from there, if that is what you want.
Various backup programs are available which cover this problem. They keep multiple versions of your folders, whether they change or not. This is overkill but it is automatic. This may make it desirable, since it solves the problem. I do not recommend it.
Generally speaking, it is sufficient if you keep a second copy of everything you have ever created or saved together with sequential copies of just your evolving opuses.
It is a good idea to take your external storage unit with you when you leave the house, physically separating the originals and the backup copies, reducing the chance of losing your stuff to computer failure, theft or fire. Perhaps putting the backup unit in a zip-lock plastic bag with some bubble wrap could further protect it from dust and shock.