If you haven’t lost data from a computer catastrophe, you probably know someone who has. How do you avoid losing your business data or pictures of the kids?

One option is burning everything to a cd or copying it to another hard drive. But you’re not covered in case something happens to your house or the media to which you backed up your data–or worse, you forgot to back up for the past three months, so you’ve lost everything you’re currently working on.

So what can you do to make sure your data is safe from all forseeable accidents? Have a program do it for you! Online backups are becoming more and more popular, and there are several options. Here are some reliable options.

Mozy – For personal use: free limited (2GB) backups or unlimited storage for $4.95/month

Mozy Pro – Secure online backup for businesses, supports Mac

Carbonite – Unlimited secure backups for $49.95/year

With any of these it’s easy to get your files back–all you need is your login information and access to the internet.

What are you waiting for? Choose the best option for you and protect your business (or personal) files today

How old is your desktop computer? Do you keep it clean? What you may not know could be affecting your computer’s life span.

Computers need air to stay cool and functioning properly. But unless you live in a cleanroom, dust is making its way into that desktop case. If too much dust accumulates the components inside the computer may get too hot (or clogged) and break. There’s an easy way to avoid losing your computer–clean it!

Not too fast. “Clean” may sound familiar, but computers are special and need special precautions. First, the pieces inside may be very fragile, so you don’t need to go feeling around in there. Don’t even think about that feather duster. What we need is air.

Compressed air does the trick, but you need to be mindful of two things.
1.  When compressed air (or liquid for that matter) is suddenly not compressed anymore it gets cold–extremely cold. Extreme and sudden cold is NOT good for computers. Make sure you keep the source of the air as far away from the computer parts as possible to still effectively remove the dust.
2.  Fans may be fun to watch going around and around, but motors that are being turned by the fan are not fun–they wear out quicker. Do not let the fans spin while using the compressed air.

If this process frightens you, or you just don’t want to do it yourself, and you live in the greater Charleston area feel free to email me to set up an appointment.