How to Back Up Your Hard Drive
Don’t wait another day to protect your hard-earned hard drive data.
Up next in Data Management & Storage (25 videos)
Organize your online information with the data management and storage tips in this Howcast video series.
You Will Need
- Blank CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs, or an external hard drive
- Time to copy files
Steps
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Step 1
Decide which files you want to back up. It’s not necessary to back up your entire hard drive, because many programs can be reinstalled if necessary.
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You should definitely back up all your data files, which include word processing documents, spreadsheets, pictures, videos, and saved game files
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Step 2
Determine how you’re going to back up your hard drive. There are two main methods: CD-ROM or DVD-ROM backup, and external hard drive backup. (A third option, tape backup, is used mostly by businesses that have huge databanks.)
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Check if your computer has a 'partition backup' capability built in. If so, you can get software that takes an image of the hard drive.
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Step 3
If you choose the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM option, place a blank CD-ROM or DVD-ROM into your computer’s CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
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A CD-ROM can store roughly 600 MB of data, while a DVD-ROM can store about 6 GB of data.
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Step 4
Copy the files that you want to store onto the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
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Save time by copying groups of files or whole folders at once.
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Step 5
Once the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is full, or you have copied all the files that you want to back up, remove the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM from your computer, label it, and store it in a safe place.
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Step 6
To back up your hard drive to an external one, purchase an external hard drive from a computer retailer.
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Step 7
Connect the external hard drive to your computer. You’ll use either a USB connection or a Firewire connection to do so.
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Some external hard drives require an external power source, so check the instructions that come with it.
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Step 8
Copy all the files that you want to back up to your external hard drive.
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Step 9
Store the external hard drive in a safe place.
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Trying to recover data from a broken hard drive can cost upwards of $7,500--and doesn’t guarantee results.
