Make Computer Backups of All Your Data or Risk Disaster!

We're Not Talking About Reverse Here

Putting computer backups off until another day can lead to disaster in your genealogy research.

The best disaster recovery begins with a well-planned strategy for computer backups which you then faithfully execute.

If your computer hard drive failed right now:

Would you be able to start your genealogy research up again from where you left off, or would you have to start researching, saving files, entering data into your program all over again?

Would you lose genealogy data you could not replace because the data you just lost was the only copy in existence?

If the thought of either of these makes you nervous, you need to start making copies of your genealogy information. This is called "backing up" your data.

Use the following information to help you plan your strategy, and then implement your plan on a regular schedule to keep you safe from the permanent loss of irreplaceable genealogy research information.

What do you need to copy?

When do you need to perform a copy of your data?

Where do you keep the files once you have copied all your genealogy data?

How do you perform a complete copy?

How long do you keep your copies?

Make a Plan for Backing Up Your Genealogy Data

Figure out and follow a plan that makes the most sense to you, but do it. Although it takes time to do regular backups, it takes a lot more time to start from scratch again.