Have you ever stored files on a CD just so you have a back up in case something goes haywire with your computer? If you have, have you ever gone back to that CD to get something off of it only to find out that the disc is no longer good and the files you had on it aren't readable anymore or visible? If so, then join the club that has many many members my friend because it sure has happened to me several times in the past.
I even went to the lengths of having a copy of the CD in case the original corrupts only to find out that the copy is also corrupt.
Talk about wanting to scream! Times like that really make you curse technology doesn't it? Well have no fear because I'm going to give you a few different storage methods for your important files and pictures.
Now none of these are foolproof but in my eyes the more of these you use together, the better your chances of at least ONE working when you need it..
There are many different methods of course such as an external hard drive, a backup program, DVD's, online storage websites, etc.
I'm going to talk about the ones I've tried which includes the external hard drive, DVD and online storage and give you a few pointers on each.
Now, as I stated, none of these will guarantee your files are totally safe and retrievable but at least they're options to consider.
Let's start with the external hard drive.
There are many different brands on the market, different storage sizes to solve many different computer users' needs.
You can get them from as small as 20 GB all the way to 300 GB and I'm sure there are even larger ones out there but you get the idea; if you have a lot of files you need to store or just a few, there's an external hard drive to fit your needs and reasonably priced too; many sell for under $60 for the smaller sizes; I think I paid around $90 or so for a 80 GB external drive.
Most of them are extremely simple to connect to a USB port and you're ready to go.
They really do a beautiful for storing your important files and pictures.
For example, since I'm a digital artist and graphic designer, naturally I have a lot of images I need to keep safely stored and I always transfer my work to my external drive after I stop working; even if I know I'll work on it again later in the day.
Naturally, you don't have to go this far but I've had many bad experiences over the years and I like to play it cautious.
Next are recordable DVD's which also come in many different brands as well as "R" and "RW" which just means that the DVD-R you can only record on it once and then it's finished; whereas the DVD-RW you can rewrite over it several hundred times in many cases.
OK now for the obvious piece of information: to record onto a DVD of ANY kind you have to have a DVD recorder drive; if you have one that records onto CD's it doesn't necessarily mean you can also record onto a DVD using the same drive so please, do check on that before getting a pack of blank DVD's.
The beauty of using a blank DVD is the size they can store; you can fit roughly 4-5 CD's onto 1 DVD! I'm not kidding you; it's a beautiful thing; as I said, I'm a graphic designer and artist and naturally the images can take up quite a bit of space so it's wonderful to record onto a disc that store up to 4 GB of information/images because it really lightens up the amount of space I need to have for disc storage; and trust me, having one stack of DVD's sure beats 10 stacks of CD's.
What happens if you don't have the cash for an external hard drive and don't have a drive that will record onto a DVD? You can always go another way and choose an online storage website to store your files and images.
There are really a ton of them out there, some expensive, some cheap and even some free ones.
Each one has their own level of security as far as if someone could break into the system and steal your files so do check to see what their security level is and how they keep your information safe so that hackers and thieves can't steal your private information or work.
Also, check how long they've been in business; you generally don't want to go with a brand new storage business because who knows, they could go out of business tomorrow and then where would you be? The beauty of using an online storage website is you don't have to worry about recording onto a disc every few days or weeks as the case may be or paying for an external hard drive.
Say for instance your PC crashes- I know-major panic mode isn't it? I know I always go a bit off the end when my PC takes a powder and I have to spend the day re-installing the entire system and programs, etc.
Well if this happens and you have your files saved online, once you get your PC reformatted and are able to get online you just go to the website you stored your files at and you're in business again! For all of you out there who are like me, a digital artist and create your masterpieces on the computer I have an additional tip to give you that I've been using for the past year or so now.
I created a special email account that I use strictly for images that I'm in the process of creating; in other words, unfinished masterpieces.
Here's how I use it, say I'm working on a painting and have just begun the outline sketch of it but need to leave for an appointment or just want to take a break, I save the file and then I email myself a copy of it to that email account; this way if something were to happen in the meantime I could download the file from the email and start right back where I left off.
I do this every time I stop painting.
Naturally you'll need a rather large email account but that's ok; there are many out there today that are free and give you a ton of storage space.
Then once you're done with your painting or whatever it is you're doing, go into your email account and delete the oldest copies and maybe keep the last 2 or 3 files just in case you want to go back at a later date and make some changes but don't want to touch the already finished image.
I personally and professionally use all of these methods I've described- the external hard drive, the DVD back up, the online storage as well as the email idea.
Does that mean you have to use each one? Certainly not! But I will give you one final piece of advice; whatever method you choose to save your important files and images, the more options you use, the better chance you have of having at least one of the storage sources be there for you when you need them.
There's no foolproof storage method, no matter which one you choose, it can go crazy on you and not work but that doesn't mean you shouldn't seriously consider storing your important data; everyone's going to have a PC go bonkers on them, unfortunately it's a part of life; technology is only as infallible as the human who creates it and let's face it, I have yet to meet a perfect human, have you? I wrote this article to give readers an idea of what's available out there to save their work and files on.
I in no manner recommend any particular storage method.
Whichever storage method you choose, be sure to weigh the pros and cons and i take zero responsibility in case something happens to your stored material.
Just like anything else out there, you use at your own risk!
I even went to the lengths of having a copy of the CD in case the original corrupts only to find out that the copy is also corrupt.
Talk about wanting to scream! Times like that really make you curse technology doesn't it? Well have no fear because I'm going to give you a few different storage methods for your important files and pictures.
Now none of these are foolproof but in my eyes the more of these you use together, the better your chances of at least ONE working when you need it..
There are many different methods of course such as an external hard drive, a backup program, DVD's, online storage websites, etc.
I'm going to talk about the ones I've tried which includes the external hard drive, DVD and online storage and give you a few pointers on each.
Now, as I stated, none of these will guarantee your files are totally safe and retrievable but at least they're options to consider.
Let's start with the external hard drive.
There are many different brands on the market, different storage sizes to solve many different computer users' needs.
You can get them from as small as 20 GB all the way to 300 GB and I'm sure there are even larger ones out there but you get the idea; if you have a lot of files you need to store or just a few, there's an external hard drive to fit your needs and reasonably priced too; many sell for under $60 for the smaller sizes; I think I paid around $90 or so for a 80 GB external drive.
Most of them are extremely simple to connect to a USB port and you're ready to go.
They really do a beautiful for storing your important files and pictures.
For example, since I'm a digital artist and graphic designer, naturally I have a lot of images I need to keep safely stored and I always transfer my work to my external drive after I stop working; even if I know I'll work on it again later in the day.
Naturally, you don't have to go this far but I've had many bad experiences over the years and I like to play it cautious.
Next are recordable DVD's which also come in many different brands as well as "R" and "RW" which just means that the DVD-R you can only record on it once and then it's finished; whereas the DVD-RW you can rewrite over it several hundred times in many cases.
OK now for the obvious piece of information: to record onto a DVD of ANY kind you have to have a DVD recorder drive; if you have one that records onto CD's it doesn't necessarily mean you can also record onto a DVD using the same drive so please, do check on that before getting a pack of blank DVD's.
The beauty of using a blank DVD is the size they can store; you can fit roughly 4-5 CD's onto 1 DVD! I'm not kidding you; it's a beautiful thing; as I said, I'm a graphic designer and artist and naturally the images can take up quite a bit of space so it's wonderful to record onto a disc that store up to 4 GB of information/images because it really lightens up the amount of space I need to have for disc storage; and trust me, having one stack of DVD's sure beats 10 stacks of CD's.
What happens if you don't have the cash for an external hard drive and don't have a drive that will record onto a DVD? You can always go another way and choose an online storage website to store your files and images.
There are really a ton of them out there, some expensive, some cheap and even some free ones.
Each one has their own level of security as far as if someone could break into the system and steal your files so do check to see what their security level is and how they keep your information safe so that hackers and thieves can't steal your private information or work.
Also, check how long they've been in business; you generally don't want to go with a brand new storage business because who knows, they could go out of business tomorrow and then where would you be? The beauty of using an online storage website is you don't have to worry about recording onto a disc every few days or weeks as the case may be or paying for an external hard drive.
Say for instance your PC crashes- I know-major panic mode isn't it? I know I always go a bit off the end when my PC takes a powder and I have to spend the day re-installing the entire system and programs, etc.
Well if this happens and you have your files saved online, once you get your PC reformatted and are able to get online you just go to the website you stored your files at and you're in business again! For all of you out there who are like me, a digital artist and create your masterpieces on the computer I have an additional tip to give you that I've been using for the past year or so now.
I created a special email account that I use strictly for images that I'm in the process of creating; in other words, unfinished masterpieces.
Here's how I use it, say I'm working on a painting and have just begun the outline sketch of it but need to leave for an appointment or just want to take a break, I save the file and then I email myself a copy of it to that email account; this way if something were to happen in the meantime I could download the file from the email and start right back where I left off.
I do this every time I stop painting.
Naturally you'll need a rather large email account but that's ok; there are many out there today that are free and give you a ton of storage space.
Then once you're done with your painting or whatever it is you're doing, go into your email account and delete the oldest copies and maybe keep the last 2 or 3 files just in case you want to go back at a later date and make some changes but don't want to touch the already finished image.
I personally and professionally use all of these methods I've described- the external hard drive, the DVD back up, the online storage as well as the email idea.
Does that mean you have to use each one? Certainly not! But I will give you one final piece of advice; whatever method you choose to save your important files and images, the more options you use, the better chance you have of having at least one of the storage sources be there for you when you need them.
There's no foolproof storage method, no matter which one you choose, it can go crazy on you and not work but that doesn't mean you shouldn't seriously consider storing your important data; everyone's going to have a PC go bonkers on them, unfortunately it's a part of life; technology is only as infallible as the human who creates it and let's face it, I have yet to meet a perfect human, have you? I wrote this article to give readers an idea of what's available out there to save their work and files on.
I in no manner recommend any particular storage method.
Whichever storage method you choose, be sure to weigh the pros and cons and i take zero responsibility in case something happens to your stored material.
Just like anything else out there, you use at your own risk!
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