We maintain our computers similarly to how we maintain our own health - rarely do we take the time to learn about preventing health complications, and instead work to repair our health once we've become ill! We take care of our computers the same way, in that we rarely think about the safety or well-being of our data until something happens that leads to data loss or corruption. Have you ever taken a moment to imagine what would happen if you lost some or all of your computer files? Whether you only use your computer for personal reasons; or for school or work, file or data loss can be devastating! Think of all of those family photographs, music files or class assignments! Think of the report you spent weeks working on. Some files can be replaced with time and effort, while others (particularly your photos or home videos) cannot. Numerous reports tell us that over a third of computer users don't back up their files; and of those that actually do perform some data backup - 76% of people don't do it often enough. Most people tend to think computer files are lost only due to catastrophic events - like tornadoes and hurricanes. Don't forget about slightly more common events, including fire, flood or computer viruses. A computer "disaster" does not necessarily have to be one from Mother Nature, either. Suppose you dropped your laptop down the stairs or spilled your coffee on the keyboard? Losing personal files is devastating because of their sentimental value - while business owners who rely on content and files can consider the loss of data fatal to their business if they don't have a data backup plan in place. Before Disaster Strikes Just like many human health issues can be prevented with proper diet and care, having a complete backup plan in place can prevent disaster from occurring to your precious data. Data backup isn't as complicated or expensive as you might believe. It is far easier to back up your files to be able to restore them after something damages your computer, than it is to recover them after disaster strikes. Consider a data backup plan to be your computer's insurance policy! Picking Up The Pieces If you've already experienced the loss of data and you hadn't backed up your data and files, you'll need to use data recovery services to recover as much of the lost information as possible. Data recovery makes it possible to save some of the data from damaged, corrupted or failed storage devices, but it's expensive, and you may never recover 100% of the data you've lost. Data Backup and Recovery Solution Your best solution is to use a remote data backup system. This will backup and store your data files and information at regularly scheduled intervals to an online data store accessed via the web. Your backed-up information can then be restored to any computer if your computer's hard disk fails, or if it has been attacked by a virus, or physically damaged. Some people back up their files to CDs or flash drives - and then keep these storage devices in the same location as the computer. If there is a natural disaster, chances are the computer and the backup copies will be ruined. Remote data backup services exist for both personal computer users and businesses of all sizes. Prices range from very reasonable to very expensive - based on how much storage you require and other factors. Prevention is the best medicine - give yourself peace of mind with a data backup insurance policy for your computer files.