Solutions to back up your life

With digital photos replacing photo albums and our ownership of books, music and the like becoming increasingly invisible, individuals and households are faced with the challenge of safeguarding their digital legacy for years to come. Here are some solutions.

They are in our pockets, in our bags, on our desks, on our kitchen worktops, on our bedside tables, in our cars, those hundreds of photos, videos, music that make up the sound track and the back drop of your life as you know it. As the amount of digital content that the average person carries around with them on laptops, smartphones and tablets continues to grow, so does the risk of losing it.

Storage leaders WD says that the democratisation of content creation tools such as digital cameras go hand in hand with our human inability to let go of the content that we create: in essence we just keep everything. But what’s your backup plan?

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

1. Don’t wait until it is too late – so if you like it, make a copy of it. A backup 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. Automatic backup software to the rescue. Like a jet plane with more than one engine, you need a backup. If your files are backed up and an important file is lost, you can relax because you have a copy. Use automatic backup software like WD Backup to set a backup schedule that suits you. Automatic and continuous backup runs quietly in the background and back up your files every time you add or change and save a file. With scheduled backup, you choose the day, time and frequency of your backups.

3. Keep your private stuff private. Just as your smartphone has a password, so should your hard drive. Feel secure from unauthorised access using WD Backup to add password protection and 256-bit hardware encryption for every photo, video, music and important file you save.

4. Keep copies in different places: a backup of a backup of a backup. Make sure that you have at least two copies of your most important files. Several backups 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 backup but storage, so your files are still at risk of being lost should anything happen. WD software can also allow you to back up to your Dropbox account, providing you with another level of file protection for ultimate peace of mind.

We urge consumers to backup all of their personal data, regardless of platform,” says Anamika Budree, Sales Manager, Branded Products at WD South Africa. “It’s more than just the purchase of a hard drive: we want to help consumers ensure that their content is safeguarded with the help of automatic backup software like WD Backup, which is an integral part of My Passport Ultra hard drives. We would like highlight this stark reminder of the value of personal content: priceless and irreplaceable memories that we’d hate to lose.

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