As a business owner, there are many things that need to be done on a regular basis to protect your investment. Backing up your computer on a consistent basis is important to keep your data intact. There are many ways we could lose information on our computer: a power surge, natural hazards like lightning or tornadoes, fires, unnatural hazards like viruses, and simply old equipment failing. We don’t like to think about it, but any of them is possible at the most inopportune moment!!

First, let’s start with what to back up. You can make full backups of the operating system or just back up some information. Here is a list of some of the specific things you may not have thought of:

– Documents.

– Bank records and other financial information.

– Digital photographs.

– Software and music purchased and downloaded over the Internet.

– Email address book.

– Emails.

– Perspective calendar.

– Internet Explorer “Favorites”.

– And most importantly, anything you can’t replace if your computer crashes.

Next, how often should you back up? This really depends on your personal use of your computer and the information you store on it. For example, I backed up my entire system using the Maxtor One Touch II external hard drive, and I’ll do it monthly…possibly more often if I installed a new program or made various changes to my computer. But in addition to backing up my entire system, I also have my digital images backed up on a DVD-RW for permanent storage. And I back up my Outlook email and address book, QuickBooks files, My Documents and Internet Explorer Favorites weekly to a DVD-RW.

Now where to store your backup? First of all, there are several off-site backup storage services on the Internet. Google “offsite backup” and you’ll get endless options. Most have some sort of monthly fee. When choosing an online storage company, you want to make sure that the service is not only reliable, but that the company is stable and doesn’t shut down unexpectedly and you can’t get your backup. One positive aspect of online storage is that your backup is stored away from your office or home. In the event of a natural disaster, your backup would not be affected. A couple of downsides are that if the online service’s servers go down, you won’t have access to your files, the company’s servers could be hacked, and your information could get into the hands of someone you don’t want it to reach, and the company could close without notice. I personally don’t use online storage, but several other virtual assistants have recommended Carbonite or Mozy. Whichever you choose, do your homework and consider not only using external storage, but also one or more of the following on-site storages.

As for on-site backup, there are several options.

– CD/RW: Newer computers come with a DVD or CD burner and software pre-installed. CD/RW compact discs are rewritable, which means you can use the same CD over and over again. CD/R compact discs are not rewritable and can only be used once. Compact discs have a capacity of up to 700 MB and are quite inexpensive.

– DVD/RW: Newer computers come with a DVD/RW burner and software pre-installed, which will also burn CDs. A DVD can hold up to 8.5GB and is still a fairly inexpensive way to back up.

Whether you choose a CD or DVD backup, organization is key. Be sure to label your discs and date them. If you are doing an important backup, you may need more than one disk to complete the backup.

– USB Flash Drive: This is a small hard drive about 2-3 inches long that plugs into a computer’s USB port. You can download information directly to the flash drive over and over again. A search of http://www.amazon.com turned up numerous flash drives, ranging from 512MB to 4GB. If you choose to use the USB flash drive, be careful where you put it, they are very small!

– External Hard Drive: This is a hard drive that is separate from your computer. It has its own power source and you connect it to your computer via USB or FireWire. Storage sizes range from 120GB to 500GB and the one-time cost of purchasing the hard drive is more expensive than our other options. I personally use Maxtor’s One Touch II to back up my entire system. Create historical backup versions with full system restore to a point in time, something that is unique to this form of backup. It comes with its own software to perform system backups.

When using on-site storage, it’s best if you have an off-site place to store your backup. Maybe take a copy home and leave a copy at the office. I have a separate storage building where I keep my backup. This way, if there is a fire or water gets into my office, my backup is still safe.

Good. So you’ve decided what to back up, when to back up, and what media you want to use, now how do you go about it? Well, to some extent, this varies depending on the method you have chosen to back up. But basically, if you’re using Windows Vista or Windows XP Professional Edition, there’s a backup utility you can use to do a full or partial backup. If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you will need to install the backup utility from your Windows XP CD. If you are using an external hard drive backup, you will need your own backup software.

Now let’s say you have backed up your entire computer, but from time to time you want to back up your Outlook email messages. Here’s how: select “File”, then “Import and Export”. Select “Export to a file”, then click next. Select “Personal Folder File (.pst)”, click Next. Select the folder you want to copy. For example, the Inbox, including all subfolders. Click Next. Next, choose where you want to back up. I personally keep it in “My Documents”.

And what about all those Favorites you’ve stored in Internet Explorer? This is how you can save them in a backup. Select “File”, then “Import and Export”. This will start the Import and Export Wizard. Select “Export Favorites”, click next. Select “Favorites”, click next. In the next window, you can choose where you want to save your backup. Again, I personally save to “My Documents”. Click Finish.

When I back up my QuickBooks weekly, I also back this up to “My Documents”. When I download programs from the Internet, they are downloaded to a subfolder called “Downloads” located in “My Documents”.

I put as much as I can in “My Documents” because then weekly when I back up to a DVD, I only have to back up my “My Documents” folder. As I mentioned earlier, I also do a full system backup to the external hard drive on a monthly basis at least.

Depending on the amount of data you’re backing up, it can take a long time to finish, so make sure you back up when your computer is on and not in use. You can also set your computer to back up automatically.

You are now loaded with knowledge to begin your retreat ritual.