When Your Computer Has a Meltdown

Why YOU Need a Data Backup and Recovery Plan!

Yesterday morning, my computer exploded.

Well technically it didn't "explode" but it might as well have. The system crashed. Ironically, it happened immediately after I installed an update to my Windows software that I downloaded directly from Microsoft's web site. (I can't print here how I'm feeling about Microsoft today! @&^$*!!)

As with most updates, you have to restart your computer after the installation. I restarted, but my computer didn't! I got the dreaded "blue screen of death," followed by the equally gut-wrenching "black screen of let me make sure you know you're dead." Thank God I had all of my data -– my customer database, my documents and projects, and even my family photos -– backed up.

When you're in business for yourself, you have to be responsible for protecting your greatest asset: your data. Unlike when you work for a big corporation, there's no IT staff that automatically backs up the network every day. You have to be proactive, and you have to have a data recovery plan. Your computer will crash, I guarantee it. It's not a matter of "if"; it's a matter of when.

Software you buy -- like Microsoft Outlook, for example -- can always be reinstalled. But what about the data in the software -- like your address book of contacts, your appointments, and email archives? In the case of a computer crash or virus, or even a natural disaster, what would you do if you lost your entire customer and business contacts, all your documents and archives, and all the other information you need to run your business every day? (More on that in a minute.)

I called Geek Squad, a so-called 24-hour on-site national computer repair company, who promptly informed me that they could to my house and fix it. On Saturday. Never mind that I was calling at 8:30 on Wednesday morning.

Since having an out-of-commission computer is really not an option when you're "The E-Commerce Diva" and most of your business is virtual, I decided I'd try my luck in person at the Geek Squad desk inside the Best Buy store near my house. I checked my wallet for cash, because I was considering the possibility that a bribe may have to be involved if I wanted my computer back in any kind of timely fashion.

The Geek Squad people said they could fix my computer. Great! It might take three days. What?! But if I paid the "express service" rate -- which is double the normal rate – I could have my computer back by the evening. Fine, whatever, just fix it. So $357 and seven hours later, my computer was fixed. (I didn't have to bribe them.)

I still had the task of reinstalling all my software and restoring my data from its backup (which is occurring in the background as I type this), but at least I wasn't totally out of commission.

But what about you? If your computer were to crash today, right now, could you be back up and running with all of your data in a day? At all? How would you do business if you lost all the contact information for all the people you do business with?

I confess; I wasn't always this prepared. I had to learn the hard way. A few years ago, my previous computer crashed. It overheated and actually melted my hard drive, and all my data melted with it. A silly $9.00 part of the cooling system malfunctioned and nearly wreaked havoc on my business and life.

Sure, I did backup my computer data onto a CD every once in a while. But not nearly often enough. I lost a lot of important information and files. I was totally stressed out. And I spent a lot of time piecing together lost data from other sources -- time I needed to be working and running my business. And when I watched the devastation in New Orleans and the Gulf region, I realized that even if I had backed up my data on CDs every single day, the CDs themselves probably would have gotten destroyed if I encountered a similar physical disaster.

So I ask you again: what would happen to your business if your primary computer melted, crashed, got hacked, or floated away in a flood? While you can't totally stop these things from happening, you can take steps today to minimize the damage and stress.

1. Get good Internet protection.

Start by deterring the viruses and attacks that can damage your computer and data in the first place. You need a good antivirus, firewall, anti-spyware program, like Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro Internet Security, or something similar.

And make sure you get the ongoing subscription with automatic updates so that you always have the latest virus protection.

2. Get a fool-proof data backup system.

We all know we're supposed to back up our computers daily. But we don't. (We also know we're supposed to get 30 minutes of physical exercise daily, but most of us don't do that either.) I don't trust myself to remember to back up my files as often as I should and I'm not willing to gamble with my livelihood (at least not anymore), so I use Carbonite.

For $5 a month, Carbonite will back up practically your WHOLE computer, every day. It does this quietly in the background while you're working, so you don't even notice it. Just set it and forget it. It's super easy. If your computer does crash or if you simply want to buy a new computer and need to transfer all your data, you just log in to the Carbonite web site, click "Restore" and you're back in business. Have you ever accidentally deleted a file you needed? You can also restore a single file from the backup.

If I didn't have Carbonite when my computer crashed yesterday, I'd be crying. Bawling, even. That's why I call them my $5 insurance policy!

One thing -– Carbonite generally already knows which files to back up on your computer, but you may need to tell it specifically to back up your Microsoft Outlook contacts and archive data (search your computer for files ending in ".pst".

3. Export data stored on third-party systems.

Got a web site, e-mail newsletter, or customer database that is housed by a third-party web service? Don't assume that they will back up your data as often as they advertise, or even at all. While reputable companies do have networks of backup web servers and daily data backups, things do happen. Glitches occur, companies go out of business overnight, or your webmaster disappears with all your account login info. Unfortunately, I've seen all of these things happen to myself or others.

If any information crucial to you doing business (such as all your newsletter subscribers' e-mail addresses) is stored on the web somewhere, you need to make sure you have your own recent backup of this data just in case.

Insist that your webmaster give you a master CD with your web files on it. And once a week, log on to your online account(s), export your customer or subscriber contact data, and save it to your own computer's hard drive where it can automatically be backed up by Carbonite.

The bottom line here is this: when you are self-employed, the buck stops with you. You can't afford to lose your crucial business and personal data, nor can you afford to have your computer out of commission for a week.

Don't put it off. Take the steps TODAY to protect your data. You won't regret it.

Comments

[Lisa]

Hi. Great info - especially about the online back up service but what about buying an external drive to do backups? Are they just as effective and not as costly?

Thanks.

[Jamila White]

Hi Lisa,

Great question. I'm not an expert on hardware for personal computers but I don't think it would hurt at all to have an external drive for backups. The only caveat is if that's your only backup, what would you do in the case of a natural disaster where your physical computer and/or the external backup drive were damaged or lost? I recently returned from New Orleans so the images of entire homes (and preseumably home offices with computers) being submerged underwater are still very fresh in my mind. And a week ago, a tornado touched down less than 20 minutes from my home and ripped the roof off a school building. I doubt an external hard drive could withstand that kind of situation.

One of the reasons I like Carbonite and other online backup services is that I can restore my backed up data from anywhere, to any computer.

When it comes to protecting the data that keeps your business running, take whatever precautions you can afford. Perhaps that even means *both* an external hard drive AND an online backup, so that your backup has its own backup?

Your suggestion for an external hard drive is a good one. Since my whole livelihood relies on the information stored in computers, it's something I'll be looking into myself.

Thanks,

Jamila

[Anne-Marie]

Thank you for this GREAT post. It's a wonderful reminder for me. At BB, we have three external back up hard drives that we have to manually update.

The last time we did them all was many moons ago *whoops* so I am definitely doing the trial run of Carbonite.

Thanks for that hint!

[Anne-Marie]

I just wanted to pop back and let you know that I am really enjoying Carbonite. I find it very peace-of-mind-generating and easy to use.