It's a good idea to backup computer files...actually it is almost a necessity...if you want to be assured that you will never lose your pictures.



Whether it be to complete computer failure, fire, theft or anything else, losing your memories or work, not to mention other important files and folders, is not fun.

There are various ways to back up your photos and anything else on your computer.

They will all work, but you may like the features of one method rather than another. Below you will find some of the most common ways for backup. I tried them all, and currently use an external hard drive with backup software that I am happy with.

External Hard Drive Backup

Your computer's main hard drive is inside your computer. An external hard drive typically connects to your computer via a USB wire. It sits outside of your computer and is portable.

External hard drives allow you to be in control, but at the same time are susceptible to fire or theft.

You can back up any of your images or other information on your computer to external hard drives. Image backup software is usually provided with which you can choose your backup options. However, sometimes the software that comes with the hard drive is not the best. The good news is that many companies that offer backup software provide free trials.

I tried out three different backup programs until I finally found one. It happened to be Handy Backup.

External hard drive backup can be set to work automatically according to a schedule you set. Many external hard drives offer a one touch button for a manual backup.


Online Backup Services

With this type of image backup, your information is stored on secure servers elsewhere. I mention image backups, but with online backup services, you can backup your entire hard drive. You can choose which computer files you want to back up or backup hard drive completely. These services can use additional computer memory. I happen to use Carbonite Backup (read my review), which is very good and simple to use.

Online Backup Storage - Photo Sharing and Storage Sites

The same sites you would use for sharing your images can serve to backup computer files of your photos. Some sites are better for online backup storage than others. Image quality is one thing to be careful of as some sites compress your photos. Other sites have image file size limits, or they might limit the number of photos you can store. Ultimately, you want one that allow you to upload your images at their original sizes and has no limits. Some charge a fee.

SmugMug allows you to store unlimited photos. For a standard account, the photo size limit is 12MB. So if your image is less than this size, you can upload and store the original image there at SmugMug (my review).

Fotki has a 50MB limit for files with a free account. However, you can upload any file size. When viewing your photos, a compressed size will be shown, but below it there is a link which says "Show Original Size". The premium account, ($50/year, unless they are running a special), allows unlimited storage. Visit my page Fotki to learn more.

Any of these methods will work to backup computer files, particularly your photos. You can also copy images onto a CD. However, the amount of pictures you can store on a CD is limited.