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When it comes to important personal data, many people are content with their current way of managing files, and see no need for a external usb hard drive. They usually just save their files onto their computer, and consider it safe. What many people do not realize , however, is that their present storage and backup method is not a way to properly prevent data loss. Many users, novice or expert, do not realize that this is a flawed system until their computer crashes. When the “blue screen of death” appears and they realize they have lost all of their files , this is often the trigger to consider a portable storage device as a solution they should have considered a long time ago. External hard drives have come a long way over the years in terms of smaller size, improved storage and cool features such as push button backup and fingerprint id capability.

There are a seemingly endless supply of products available at your disposal that can be used to prevent data loss. An external hard drive is just one of the many ways to ensure your files . If you are considering a key steps that you should consider doing to make sure you [spin] are preventing data loss from ever occurring.

Consistently Back Up Your Files

Perhaps of the most important things to do to avoid data loss is to get into the habit of routinely backing up your files. While some people will purchase an external hard drive and simply back up their files once , and do not realize they should back up their files at least one per week. By routinely backing up your files , you can make sure that there is no single file that is overlooked. An important practice of data loss prevention is to simply make sure you are consistent with your backup schedule.

Do Not Store Your Documents in One Place

Some individuals will purchase an external hard drive to back up all their files , only to delete those files that they have on their original computer. Many fail to realize that backing up your files involves keeping them in more that one location. Having an external hard drive allows you to have two copies of every important file you need. By having more than one copy of your files, and if one of the two hard drives should go bad, you still have a copy of your data files.

Do Not Keep Your Hard Drives in One Place

Many people who have use an external hard drive will simply station it in close proximity to their computer. While this is a great idea for convenience purposes, this is not a great idea as far as preventing data loss is concerned. Data loss can happen from a computer crashing and a hard drive failing , but can also come from outside damage .

If there is flood, smoke or fire damage, keeping your two hard drives in one place can be a potential disaster. If you do this, both of the hard drives will be damaged, and your files could be lost forever. To prevent this, you should keep your hard drives separately, perhaps not all the time but certainly 50% of the time for safe measure. This may simply mean keeping the extra drive in a fire proof safe or taking it to a different location such as a personal office outside of the home.

An external hard drive is just one of the methods you can use to keep your data safe such as online backup services that are becoming quite popular. By always backing up your files, storing them in different places and keeping copies, you can be sure you are safe against data loss, which is not a pleasant experience .