What Should You Backup on Your Computer?

Backing up your data is very important. Think about how you would feel if you computer crashed and you couldn't access your files? Imagine losing such files as your digital photos? Items such as these can't be replaced, so why take the chance?

With software and the ease of use of backing up data today, you could possible back up your entire hard drive. The problem is it would be a waste of space and time to do so. Let's look at what you should backup, what you shouldn't backup.

What to Backup

The items listed here are things that you should backup. They are in no particular order.

• Digital photographs.
• Personal or purchased video files.
• E-mail address books.
• Any music that you have purchased, unless you want to download the files again.
• Any applications that you have purchased (unless you can download again). Don't forget to backup the serial keys for the applications.
• Your browser bookmarks, unless you would like to re-create them.
• Any financial information and records.
• Personal projects, such as web sites or applications.
• Saved files from games if you play many videos games.

While the above list is not an exhaustive list, it does show the more common items that you should backup. Let's look at what you don't need to backup.

What You Don't Need to Backup

This list will outline what you don't need to backup to save time and storage space.

• Any installed application as they can be installed again.
• Your operating system files. You'll be installing this again anyway.
• Applications that can be downloaded, although don't forget the serial keys.
• Web browser history, cached files, and cookies.

One way to avoid any issue is to ensure that your items are backed up on a regular basis. A great way to achieve this is to use an online backup solution that will automatically backup any changed files on a regular basis.