Computer and Cell Phone Backups

Image courtesy of www.gadgettastic.com

Love them when they work, hate them when they don't, and hate them even more when they crash!

A few weeks ago, I received a message that BlackBerry had new updates for my phone. However, since I had not synchronized nor backed up my data since the month of May, I thought it would be wise to do so first. Now, you would think that from prior experience (when my laptop crashed) I would be more deligent in backing up my data. Right? Unfortunately, not! I kept putting it off each day saying to myself, "As soon as I'm done with this, I'll synch my phone!" How many of you are guilty of this as well?

Anyhow, I proceeded to perform a synch/backup only to learn that I could not do so prior to updating my phone. After numerous attempts to skip the update, I gave up. The update did not take long and when it was done, I said, "WOW! I love the new updates! And, I sooo love my BlackBerry even more now!" ...only to realize a little later, that I lost everything I had enterred since the last backup in May! I was livid and angry with myself for not continuing to backup on a weekly basis! Lesson learned the hard way!

Thankfully, after my laptop crashed and after Geek Squad  recovered some files, I put new systems in place to ensure everything is backed up on my external hard drive and looked into off-site backup services. Consequently, even if my computer crashes again, I will still have all my data somewhere. Now, I just need to make sure that the same preventative measures are in place for my cell phone.

With that said, I thought that this would be a worthy topic to blog.

Having a reliable backup system is very crucial in running a business; even more so now than ever before with Green Initiatives in place and many people not printing much. Another plus to off-site backups is that even if your place of business burns down, you will still have access to your data.

For a reasonable fee, several companies provide backup services off site on a secure online database.

Computer Backups
Here are a couple companies you can consider:

1. Carbonite: For just $54.95 per year (about $4.58 per month), Carbonite securely protects your files from

• accidental deletion
• drive failure
• theft
• power surges
• disaster

2. MOZY: For $4.95 per month for personal computers and $5.00 per month for businesses, they will provide the same services as the aforementioned company.

Cell Phone Backups
Whether you lose, break or simply replace your phone for a new one, you may encounter problems with tranfesrring your phone book and other data. Again, as with computers, there are several ways to backup your cell phone data:

1. Provider/Carrier-specific services: Alltell, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, etc.

2. Third-party backup services: Backup-Pal, Cell Stik, and DataPilot Universal Plus to name a few.

3. Finally, there are various Apps (some free, others not) that you can download directly onto your smart phone... got-to love those Apps! These will backup the info on an ongoing basis.

Do not become the next statistic... take charge! It is worth every penny and your peace of mind!