39 pc of Americans never back up their data: survey

BOSTON, USA: Although 51 per cent of Americans have experienced a computer crash where they lost all of their digital files, more than one-third (39 per cent) admit they have never backed up their computers, or haven't done so in more than a year.

These are just a few of the surprising stats from a survey released today by Wakefield Research and Carbonite, Inc. 

The general lack of preparedness is surprising in light of the fact that 40 per cent of Americans feel like they would never be able to recover, recreate or repurchase all of their documents and files if their personal computer crashed.

It's even more surprising considering the insights that the study uncovered regarding the significant value many Americans assign to their digital content, including:

It's more valuable than vacation time: 50 per cent would rather lose all of their vacation time for an entire year than lose all of the files on their computer.

It's even more precious than my wedding ring: 38 per cent of married Americans feel that it would be worse to lose everything on their computer than to lose their wedding ring.

I'd pay dearly to get my data back: 62 per cent said they would pay to get back their lost data if their computer crashed; 21 per cent said they would pay $500 and 27 per cent said they would pay as much as they needed to get their documents and files back.

I'd sacrifice something I love to save my data:

People would go to extremes to immediately recover all of their data if it were lost.

34 per cent would give up beer and wine for a year;

31 per cent would give up coffee for a year;

23 per cent would give up their cell phone for a month; and

18 per cent would give up their free time to mow their neighbor's lawn for a year.

Next: Americans place too much trust in their hard drives...

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Americans place too much trust in their hard drives

The study also revealed that Americans are surprisingly trusting of their computer hard drives, particularly taking into account that over half have lost all of their personal files in a computer crash at some point.

According to study, 82 per cent of Americans keep electronic files only and the majority of these files are nowhere else but on their computer hard drive.

"It's interesting to contrast the way people insure their treasured possessions, like their home and their car, with the ways in which they leave their often-irreplaceable digital assets unprotected," said David Friend, Carbonite CEO and Chairman.

"People have priceless photographs, critical personal financial information, and hundreds of dollars of digital media stored on their computer. Most have experienced at least one major data loss disaster, yet are still not taking simple steps to protect the contents of their computer. We invented Carbonite automatic online backup specifically to make it easy for people to protect their irreplaceable digital assets," added Friend.

The most popular files people store digitally are photos (55 per cent), music (46 per cent), resumes (42 per cent), addresses (28 per cent), phone numbers (27 per cent), and financial documents (22 per cent).