How to Make Effective Backups

Many people go to great lengths to protect their PCs from viruses, spyware, and the like, but make absolutely no effort to back up their data. I know why: It's a confusing process and a pretty major hassle. Productivity501 offers 9 tips on making effective backups, all of them designed to teach you the backup basics. The first three:

1. Take some time to imagine the worst case scenario and how you would handle it. For example, what would you do if your laptop was dropped? What would you need to do if it was stolen?
2. Make sure you have some type of offsite backup. I put a copy of important files on a DVD and put it in a bank lockbox. I only do this once or twice a year, but it gives me something to go back to if necessary.
3. Use an external hard drive for backup. This is usually a lot faster than backing up to DVDs or CDs. The easier a backup is to do the more often you'll do it.