Security Alert!: What Every Vista User Should Know to Keep Their Computer Safe

May 12, 2008

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Windows Vista Book, The: Doing Cool Things with Vista, Your Photos, Videos, Music, and More

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Why You Should Back Up Your Computer

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True story. As I sit here and write this tip, I’m thinking of a conversation I had yesterday with my buddy Steve. See, Steve was telling me his hard drive started making this weird noise, and then his computer wouldn’t boot anymore. While I’m not a computer technician, I’ve had this happen enough times to me (about three times in the last five years) to know that it’s the sure sign of a hard drive crash. So, I asked if he had a backup. As you can imagine, I wouldn’t be telling this story if he said yes. Steve didn’t have a backup. I asked him why and he said, “I just never thought it was going to happen to me.” He knew that it had happened to a lot of other people, but for some reason he thought he was immune to a hard drive failure. Here’s the thing: it’s not if your hard drive fails, it’s a matter of when your hard drive fails. At some point, you will be affected by the loss of your precious computer files. These files probably have your financial information in them, important work information, addresses and email messages, and your family photos, which are irreplaceable. So make sure you read the rest of this chapter to help minimize the damage.

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