It is critical that you back up your data now. Computer crashes tend to happen when you least expect it and all your baby's photos, the articles you wrote, the loving emails hubby sent you... all gone. So here's the guide to backing up your stuff. And do it now.

1. Portable hard drive

Get one that is within your budget. I have one 40GB one which I paid $250 some years ago and there's still ample space. Back up weekly.

2. Store them on your SD or CF cards

Storage has become so cheap that it is worthwhile keeping one copy on the cards they were written on. I just bought a 1GB Kingston Mini-SD at Giant for $24 for my phone so I don't have to erase all the cats' and Jack's pics and videos from the phone. This is 6 months worth, so your card does go a long way.

3. Store them online

There's a ton of free storage online, from 2GB (and growing) in a single email box, to exclusive storage companies offering storage for free. Back up daily or whenever online.

4. Burn them on DVD

DVD burners are very cheap now so get one (you can watch DVDs on them too) and burn a copy of your precious files monthly. I usually burn whole images and store them in versions and their dates. File in good quality folders.

5. Store on secondary hard drive

Buy a second hard drive and schedule it to store your stuff there daily.

Keep in mind, this should be ideally all done in tandem. There is no single fail-safe solution but with 5 methods, even with fire, one should survive. :)

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