As IT consultants supporting businesses and households in Malmesbury and the surrounding area,
a day really goes by without a conversation about the importance of backing up data.
In most cases the data is considered more precious to the client than the computer or tablet itself.
There are many ways to back up. Some are as simple as popping in a memory stick and dragging important files and folders to it. There also many 'cloud' backup services such as one Drive and dropbox. These services are inexpensive and effective. Google as in example, offer a way of saving your photos at no or very low cost.
For clients with large photo, music or data collections, it often isn’t practical for the individual to attempt to make a full data back up over a traditional broadband connection. In those cases, we can help by taking on the upload for you far more swiftly than is possible using the internet connections at home or on the High Street.
It is all too common for people to get in touch rather too late and an incident that we responded to this morning has to be one of the saddest examples I have ever experienced that involved the loss of precious data.
Allow me to share the story of ‘Rachael”.
Back in 2016 Rachael invested in a new desktop PC for her home office.
Her trusty old Dell was showing signs of giving up the ghost. At six years old it had served her well, but the time had come for a change.
Rachael is on the road most days and like many, her car often has to double as her office.
Email and day to day business data has to be “always available”. Rachael had taken earlier advice and is able to access her “stuff” via her PC tablet and phone with all three devices synchronizing automatically.
Rachael chose to separate her business and personal data. Family photos and the voluminous
history research that she had dedicated her spare time too with amazing dedication and detail.
It was this data that never made it into Rachael's weekly backup schedule. Uh-Oh!
Fortunately Rachel had stored away her trusty old Dell the day her new PC arrived.
Unfortunately the unit had been stored in an outhouse and had become damp.
Fortunately I had taken a backup of the data when Setting up a new kit back in 2016.
Unfortunately that backup was prior to both her wedding and the birth of her baby boy.
Fortunately her father kept a copy of those precious photographs
Unfortunately she didn’t have a copy of family tree files including the hundreds of old photos that had been dutifully cropped and labelled over the four years that Rachael dedicated to researching and documenting her family history.
Fortunately, I had a pack of tissues handy when I arrived this morning to see Rachael.
Electrical components never mix well with water or condensation.
Unfortunately the drive was dead. Any chance of retrieving anything meaningful had died with the machine.
Rachael was devastated. Ouch!
For the sake of a few minutes a week and minimal cost that is invariably outweighed by the benefits,
please don’t delay with setting up a backup routine to either external device or to some cloud storage.
Imagine having the peace of mind that every photo you take or document you create can be stored safely and securely with little or no human intervention! Imagine being able to access, retrieve and share your photos or documents from any internet connected device!
Rachael is now backing her business data to Dropbox and her photos data to Google Photos. Better still, its free!
If only she had taken those simple steps sooner!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it’s not too late for YOU! Let’s get backing up Malmesbury!
My colleague Jack and I are happy to help with your backup routine.
We can advise on how, where to and how often you should backup.
Get in touch, we will be more than pleased to assist.
See you soon!
Andy Pointer
Providing Computer Services in Malmesbury with Atema Ltd
a day really goes by without a conversation about the importance of backing up data.
In most cases the data is considered more precious to the client than the computer or tablet itself.
There are many ways to back up. Some are as simple as popping in a memory stick and dragging important files and folders to it. There also many 'cloud' backup services such as one Drive and dropbox. These services are inexpensive and effective. Google as in example, offer a way of saving your photos at no or very low cost.
For clients with large photo, music or data collections, it often isn’t practical for the individual to attempt to make a full data back up over a traditional broadband connection. In those cases, we can help by taking on the upload for you far more swiftly than is possible using the internet connections at home or on the High Street.
It is all too common for people to get in touch rather too late and an incident that we responded to this morning has to be one of the saddest examples I have ever experienced that involved the loss of precious data.
Allow me to share the story of ‘Rachael”.
Back in 2016 Rachael invested in a new desktop PC for her home office.
Her trusty old Dell was showing signs of giving up the ghost. At six years old it had served her well, but the time had come for a change.
Rachael is on the road most days and like many, her car often has to double as her office.
Email and day to day business data has to be “always available”. Rachael had taken earlier advice and is able to access her “stuff” via her PC tablet and phone with all three devices synchronizing automatically.
Rachael chose to separate her business and personal data. Family photos and the voluminous
history research that she had dedicated her spare time too with amazing dedication and detail.
It was this data that never made it into Rachael's weekly backup schedule. Uh-Oh!
Fortunately Rachel had stored away her trusty old Dell the day her new PC arrived.
Unfortunately the unit had been stored in an outhouse and had become damp.
Fortunately I had taken a backup of the data when Setting up a new kit back in 2016.
Unfortunately that backup was prior to both her wedding and the birth of her baby boy.
Fortunately her father kept a copy of those precious photographs
Unfortunately she didn’t have a copy of family tree files including the hundreds of old photos that had been dutifully cropped and labelled over the four years that Rachael dedicated to researching and documenting her family history.
Fortunately, I had a pack of tissues handy when I arrived this morning to see Rachael.
Electrical components never mix well with water or condensation.
Unfortunately the drive was dead. Any chance of retrieving anything meaningful had died with the machine.
Rachael was devastated. Ouch!
For the sake of a few minutes a week and minimal cost that is invariably outweighed by the benefits,
please don’t delay with setting up a backup routine to either external device or to some cloud storage.
Imagine having the peace of mind that every photo you take or document you create can be stored safely and securely with little or no human intervention! Imagine being able to access, retrieve and share your photos or documents from any internet connected device!
Rachael is now backing her business data to Dropbox and her photos data to Google Photos. Better still, its free!
If only she had taken those simple steps sooner!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it’s not too late for YOU! Let’s get backing up Malmesbury!
My colleague Jack and I are happy to help with your backup routine.
We can advise on how, where to and how often you should backup.
Get in touch, we will be more than pleased to assist.
See you soon!
Andy Pointer
Providing Computer Services in Malmesbury with Atema Ltd
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