Are you backed up? - Part One

In this multipart series I take a look at backup methods and why backups are important. This time it's the turn of simple CD and DVD backups.

If you ask them, the vast majority of computer users will tell you that there data is not backed up. More importantly those that do have a backup in place will rarely have an off site backup to complement that backup.

When considering if a backup is important to you it's important to ask yourself a few questions. If your computer hard drive stopped working right now would you be losing any money from lost work stored on it? Would you lose anything important to you and your family such as photos and videos? Would you lose purchase music, TV shows or movies that you would need to purchase again to get back? If you answer yes to any of these questions then you are in need of a backup. Lets look at your options.

Starting with the simplest form of backup you could simply burn a CD or DVD of all your personal data. Programs such as iTunes and iPhoto make this process easy and even have menu items that walk you through the process. As for your personal data, right-click or control-click on your Mac's desktop and select "New Burn Folder". This will create a folder on your desktop with a hazardous waste symbol on it. Name this folder something to indicate what your backing up, such as documents backup. Now you just need to open up your home folder and drag what you want to save into this folder. If you open the Burn Folder that is now on your desktop you'll notice the minimum disc size required along the bottom of the window, please keep in mind that a CD can generally hold around 650MB and a DVD can hold around 4.7GB of data. If you are close to these maximum sizes you may need to separate your data over multiple discs. Once you've copied all your data into your burn folder, open it and click "Burn" which is in the top right corner of the window. Your Mac will now ask you to insert a CD or DVD of the required size and then will begin backing up your data onto your disc. Once this is done you'll want to label the disc making clear what it holds and also what date the backup was performed. Now store it someplace safe, preferably away from your computer in case of theft or other physical damage occurring in that area. You don't want your backup to be destroyed at the same time now do you?