When and how to Backup

Q: I'm worried about losing the information on my computer. How often should I do a backup and how do I do it?

A: This is an excellent question. This could well be the most important, and least understood, issue facing computer users today. You would never see a major company operating without backups. So why is it that small businesses and home users fail to backup their information? The answer is that they've simply never really been shown how, or taken the few minutes to learn how. The good news is, it's actually pretty easy to do backups.

First, some background information. The issue here is that a computer file is actually made up of lots and lots of tiny little bits of memory. There are different types of memory and I’ll talk about them another time. For now, we're interest in your hard disk, because that's the memory storage device that is really critical to saving your data. Many things can cause memory loss (for computers, that is…)

Everyone's heard about computer viruses, lightning strikes, and the dreaded Y2K issues. The point is, if any of the little bits of memory holding a file get messed up, the whole file could be made useless. At that point you want to get the file back, in its original state. Now, before anyone starts losing sleep over this issue I should mention that, generally, the memory is pretty stable and you shouldn't get too paranoid about losing information. But it's better to be safe than sorry, right? (Nod your head YES… ) OK… So what should you backup, and how, and how often?

You should do a backup any time you have made a change to information that you don't want to lose! This sounds flippant, but it's true. Make a copy of anything you don't want to loose. Do this often. This can be a simple backup to someplace else on your hard disk, or a more involved backup that you can remove from the computer to take home with you. If you spend three hours working on a new invitation layout, you should be doing a save (not the same as a backup) every 10 to 15 minutes and you should make a backup before turning off the computer.

I firmly believe that every gallery should backup their most used files on a DAILY basis and that they should have an off-site backup at least weakly. This does not mean you have to spend three hours a day doing backups of your whole hard disk! You see, out of all the STUFF you have on the hard disk, there really isn't very much that can't be recreated, and even less that changes on a daily basis.

For example, suppose you're using our software (Masterpiece Gallery Manager) to manage your inventory, clients, and point of sale issues. Well, when you install our software, hundreds of files are created on your hard disk. There are program files which are the files that tell the computer how to perform a task, and there are data files which hold your information. The program files can be replaced. Even if you lost all the program files for Masterpiece, we could send you new ones to run. So you don't have to have your own backup, necessarily, of these files. What we can't send you are the data files that have your unique information, like your inventory. So it's up to you to make sure that you can get your data back if you need to.

The same is true with a word processor like Microsoft Word. You don't have to backup the Microsoft Word program on a daily basis, just all of your own documents.

Here's a proven scheme for doing backups based on a gallery that's open 7 days a week.

[Next month, I'll talk about different media you can use for backups like zip disks, floppies, CDroms, tapes, etc. I'll also talk about backup programs like Microsoft Backup, which comes free with Windows, Stuffit (for you MAC users), PKZIP which now has version for Windows or MAC, and IOMEGA's "One Step Backup" (which usually isn't) for zip disks. For now, I'll assume you're using a zip disk because it's easy and can be used on either Windows or MAC!]

Go out and purchase ten zip disks. Label the first six disks Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Label the other four disks Sunday1, Sunday2, Sunday3, and Sunday4.

Use the Monday disk for your backup every Monday - (well duh) On Tuesday, use the Tuesday disk - (well duhhhhhhh) On the first Sunday, use the first Sunday disk and TAKE IT HOME. On the second Sunday, use the second Sunday disk and TAKE IT HOME TOO. Do the same for the third and fourth Sundays. On the fifth Sunday, reuse the first Sunday disk and then just keep it all going. Every six months, get 10 new disks. Use the original set for something other than backups (they're good, but old) and start the whole process again.

WHY?!?!? Well it goes like this. Suppose you have a problem on a Wednesday morning so you go to get Tuesday's backup. Hopefully it works fine. Remember that your BACKUP is only any good if you can RESTORE the files from the backup. What if the Tuesday disk has its own problems? After all, it’s a memory device, just like the hard disk. (That's why you replace them every six months.) So you use the Monday disk. You'll lose a day's work but not everything!

Now, suppose your new sales person deleted 50 names from your mailing list (by accident) and you don't notice for TWO WEEKS. Restoring from yesterday's backup won't get the names back. But the chances are real good that you could get the names from the backup you did THREE WEEKS AGO. You feel pretty smart now, don't you? Nod your head YES again…

In case it needs mentioning, the reason you want to take the backup home every week is for the unexpected catastrophe where you lose the actual computer, or gallery. Fire, flood, burglary, whatever. That little backup can tell you every client, every piece of inventory, who you owe money to, and who owes you money. It can be the difference between getting back on your feet and simply fading away.

Once you have a good backup plan in place, you might even approach your insurance company to ask for lower rates. After all, their risk has been reduced because of your excellent record keeping! Even if they don't agree, you'll feel safer knowing you have the backups available.

We all hope nothing every happens to our data but the fact remains that this is an easy thing to do and it could save you thousands of dollars, and many hours of grief, if you ever need it.

Next month, I'll talk about a few options you have for doing your backups. But don't feel like you have to wait till then to begin. Go out and get some floppy disks, if necessary, and at least save your mailing, inventory, and accounting information!

Take the backup home with you and I guarantee you'll feel much more secure. You might even get a better night's sleep!

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James Archer has been a gallery owner himself, and developed The Masterpiece Gallery Manager, a software system designed specifically for the art and related industries. If you have a topic you would like him to discuss, please send email to j@archer.com
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