Think about how much data you save to you computer. Pictures, music, documents, and email. Unless you specify another location to save your data, most of it will be stored in your My Documents folder and your Desktop. Both of these folders are located in the Documents and Settings folder on your hard drive. So backing up your C:\Documents and Settings folder will back up your My Documents, Desktop, Email, and even your Favorites in Internet Explorer.
One way to back up your data if you are a home user is by burning it to CD. Most third-party CD burning software include a basic backup utility to backup your data as well. But if you want to do it manually just burn a data disc. You will want to make a CD with the C:\Documents and Settings folder copied or burned to the disc.
Another way to backup your data is to a Flash Drive(USB Drive). Flash drives come in a variety of sizes from 32MB to 10GB and more. All you have to do is plug it in a COPY your data to the flash drive. Then throw your flash drive back in your desk drawer. Its that simple.
There are also external hard drives that plug in via USB that you can backup your data to, some even come with software that lets you specify what directories you want to back up and with a single push of a button you can back up your data. Remember, you are still backing up to a hard drive and it can still fail over time.
Businesses and corporations have a more complex way of backing up their data. The reason for this is for the amount of data that needs to be backed up. But one thing is true between the home user and the business user is that the data being backed up is important for one reason or another.
Next time you download $20.00 worth of music, upload pricesless family photos to your computer, or add anything to your computer that has importance. Remember that eventually your hard drive will crash and if you don’t back it up, think of all that is lost. For the most part the hard drive is the weakest link any computer or server.