How to Back Up Data from Hard Drive(s) to External Media
How to Back Up Data from Hard Drive(s) to External Media
It is critical to regularly back up the data (files) stored on the hard drive(s) of your computer: If your hard drive crashes or a situation develops that prevents you from accessing the hard drive, the data—and your work—is lost if you don't have a back- up copy.

In general, the safest choice is to back up your critical data to an external medium. Some popular options are CDs, USB Flash drives (i.e., a small removable drive that you connect to your computer using a USB port), and Zip disks. The option you use will depend upon a number of factors, including the amount of data you want to back up.

  • If you want to back up more than 250MB of data, you will, under most circumstances, need to back up the data to a CD (which typically has a 650MB capacity and may need to be formatted) or to a USB Flash drive that has the storage capacity you need (no formatting necessary).
  • If you want to back up less than 250MB of data and you have a Zip drive that will accomodate Zip disks that can store up to 250MB of data, you may want to use this option (no disk formatting necessary).

For instructions on how to back up data to these media, click the link in the left-hand column that bests fits your computing environment.