Top five data back-up tips from WD

BANGALORE, INDIA: WD has declared April to be back-up month. The storage manufacturer has urged consumers to put their own back-up plans into place using five top tips to safeguard precious personal content for years to come.

"You've taken the time to store it on your desktop or laptop; everything that matters to you, from financial to sentimental. But you're just one virus, one spilled coffee, one stolen backpack away from losing it all," says Khalid Wani, sales director, Branded Business - India, Middle East, and Africa, WD.

Unlike CDs, DVDs and even web-based cloud back-up options, external hard drives with automated backup software remain the most cost friendly, hassle free, reliable, quick and secure approach to back-up.

What's your backup plan?

WD has put together its top five back-up tips so consumers can put together their own backup plan:

1. Don't wait until it is too late - get your hands on an external drive

A back-up means having no less than two copies of any data you deem valuable and external hard drives are a great way to backup files. They offer great value for money, are fast, and offer larger storage capacity than USB sticks, CDs and DVDs.

2. Use back-up software: make it automatic. Set and forget!

It is best not to rely on manually backing up your data - you will forget or sometimes be unable to back-up your data. It is also easy to make mistakes or omit something important when you are backing-up manually. Use back-up software to automate back-up process. An easy-to-use back-up program creates a back-up copy of your data reliably and automatically, keeps logs and notifies you if any problems occur.

3. Keep copies in different places: a back-up of a back-up of a back-up.....

Make sure that you have at least two copies of your most important files. Several back-ups on different devices and in different locations, reduces your risk of complete data loss.

Remember that simply moving important files (i.e. maintaining only one copy of the data) from your computer to a hard drive is not back-up but storage, so your files are still at risk of being lost should anything happen.

4. Get your own personal cloud

Rest assured that your data is safe at home, yet is also accessible when you are on the go with your own personal cloud storage system. With personal cloud storage options like the My Book Live range connected to your home network, you can safeguard content from your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

5. Test your back-up plan!

Your back-up software will log any problems it has encountered while saving your files - make sure it did not miss anything...it may just be that special photo or video that you can never re-take.