My House Was Hit by Lightening and I Lost….

About a month ago, my house was hit by lightening.  The lightening strike was a direct hit - we ended up with a hold in the roof and water damage in the ceiling.  The strike also blew out most of my electronics - including televisions, stereo receivers, my garage door, my alarm system, the cable box and the DSL modem.   I also lost my desktop computer - the one with all of my digital photos, videos and personal financial information.

About 85% of the digital photos were backed up - I burn my digital photos to DVD's every year, but not much of the rest had been backed up.  Fortunately, my IT consultant was able to salvage the hard drive - he put it into an external enclosure so all of my data is still there.  Nevertheless, this experience served as a wakeup call to me.  You cannot assume that your digital information will always be there.

In the old days, there were backup programs that compressed data for storage on floppy disks.   Now, with hard drives holding 200 to 500 gigabytes of data, backup options are less obvious.

There are some software options but I have not found one that I like or completely trust.  At this point, I am going to use the external hard drive route - I will have to remember to back up but I will have a complete copy of all of my data.

My friend, Atlanta mortgage broker Steve Epstein included the following suggestions in his weekly newsletter.  You may have seen these tips before, but they bear repeating:

• Hold On to Those Disks. You know those disks that come with your computer…the ones with all the software on them…the ones you throw in a drawer and forget about? Well - don't. Even though software often comes preloaded and ready to use, those disks and serial numbers are priceless. Keep them in a safe, memorable place and you'll be able to easily reload your software after a crash.
• Rule of Thumb. Those little USB flash drives or "thumb drives" that you see everyone carrying around now are an ideal, inexpensive way to backup small files for short periods of time. Whether you're moving information from one computer to another or you want to make sure a critical company report doesn't get lost before the client presentation, these handy devices are well worth the small amount of money you'll spend for 4 GB of peace of mind.
• Don't Get Burned…Do the Burning Instead. Most computers come standard with CD/DVD burners. Contrary to television commercials, you can burn more than just song compilations. Make the most of this device by backing up your important data regularly. Most DVDs can hold 4.7 GB, or you can double the data with double layer DVDs (known as DVD DL) that can hold up to 8.5 GB!
• Take it Outside. To backup every last byte of data, add an external hard drive that operates independently of your computer. Products like Seagate's FreeAgent storage devices offer you a variety of options…as well as the ability to access your information even when you're not at home, so you can open a document or even view your family photos from out of town.
• Leave Home Without It. For the best level of protection, move data out of the house altogether. Storing your IT off-site protects it from fire, theft, and flooding. And it's not as expensive as you might think. In fact, you can get a ton of space free from services like Yahoo! and AOL. At that price, the only thing you have to lose is your data if you don't back it up!
• Once the Damage is Done. If you've already lost your data, you may actually be able to recover it…the cost, however, runs anywhere from the hundreds to the thousands.
• Don't wait until the worst-case scenario happens–act now to protect your important data files.