Prescriptions for backing up your computer
There are many options to back up your computer data and information is provided below on utilizing external drives compared to online backup solutions in order to help you decide on the best option for your individual situation. Not sure which solution is the best? Contact us to have a computer doctor evaluate your needs.
Considerations when choosing a backup method.
| Time required |
External drive: Typically provides faster backup and restore times for large amounts of data.
Online subscription: Initial backup and restores for large amounts of data may take longer to complete.
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| Cost |
External drive: Depending on the amount of data to be backed up cost can range from less than $10 to an average of $100 for larger drives.
Online subscription: For data less than 2GB backups can be free to less than $60 per year for unlimited storage.
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| Backup schedules |
External drive: Many external drives include backup software or Microsoft Windows backup software can be used. Once the software has been configured regular backups will occur as long as the computer is powered on and connected to the external drive.
Online subscription: Online backup services offer mutiple options for backing up at a particular time of day or backing up several times each day.
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| Other considerations |
External drive: Natural disasters, fire, and theft can cause data backups to be unavailable for recovery.
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