Back-up your Data Now!

My Tip
WinZip up the directories where you store your files,documents and photos. Then burn to a Write-Once CD or DVD. Try to do weekly or at worst monthly. PLEASE!!!

About 57 percent of consumer users back up stored data, but that leaves a sizable portion of the population unprotected in the event of a crash. Internet security firm Symantec commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a study on PC users' data storage and back-up habits.

The 91 percent of computer owners who store data on their computers tend to keep digital pictures (71 percent); personal contact information (58 percent); work-related files and documents (43 percent); music or MP3 files (41 percent) and personal financial files or documents (41 percent); tasks and to-do lists (35 percent); movies and video (20 percent); and other data (14 percent). Nine percent of computer users said they don't store personal data on their computer.

"The data that's most precious to them centers mostly on financial information and home pictures," said Alan Hanson, senior product manager at Symantec. "Typically, an average customer is taking pictures of vacation and baby's first steps, and those things are all stored on their hard drive."

Fifty-one percent of those who store data on their computer regularly back up data stored on their computer. Of the group who backs up data, 29 percent complain it takes too long.

Some back up portions of their data. Fifty-seven percent back up all data stored on their computer. Others choose segments of data to back up: digital pictures (37 percent); personal financial files (26 percent); address book (25 percent); work-related files or documents (24 percent); music or MP3 files (15 percent); to-do lists (13 percent); movies and video (7 percent) and other data (4 percent.

The computer owners who don't back up data don't think about it (33 percent) or feel it isn’t important (31 percent). Hansen likens the loss of data, especially a digital address book, to someone throwing their black book into the fireplace 20 years ago. "If it were just gone, people would start from scratch again," he said.

While 76 percent of survey respondents haven't lost data in the past six months, 24 percent have. Reasons for data loss include system crash (11 percent); accidental deleting (9 percent); virus (9 percent); lack of organization (3 percent); and other (2 percent).