To protect yourself against accidental data loss, you should back up your files according to a regular schedule (i.e. every Friday afternoon) or you may also choose to back up each file whenever you make changes to it. Back up all the documents you have created using applications such as Microsoft Office applications and any other third party software. If you are using an e-mail client such as Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora to receive and send e--mails, then backing up your most important e-mails and e-mail addresses is a good practice. With the advent of new technology tools such as PDA’s and multifunctional cell phones, it is crucial to sync your information on a regular basis. Depending on the size of the files that you are backing up, there are variety of memory mediums for backing up important documents such as floppy disk, Zip drives, CD R –RW and DVD R- RW.

• Floppy disk – 1.3 MB
  
• Zip disk – 100 MB or 250 MB
  
• CD R-RW – 700 MB
  
• DVD R-RW – 4.7

Back Up devices compared by PC Magzine

For a comparison of a variety of back up storage devices. Click here