Everything has a bad side and that includes technology as well. To be more precise, let’s put it in a situation. Virus attack, stolen laptop or even house fire, these are unwanted situations no matter in what context it is.
Yes, backing up data is one of the choices on the plate but the process of doing it is a hassle itself. Sometimes it works but sometimes, you need to pay for it. That’s one of the hassles we are talking about.
According to testers from the German market watchdog Stiftung Warentest, who recently compared 13 back-ups solutions, the backup resources built into Windows and MacOS are satisfactory, but not as good as the better third-party systems.
These programs will back up the file automatically to a hard drive or a USB stick and some will encrypt the files in your cloud too.
The testers mentioned three free Windows solutions that provide a solid backup service with no charge. Those are Paragon Backup & Recovery Community Edition, Aomei Backupper 6.0 Standard Edition and the EaseUS Toto Backup Free 12.5.
Both of the tools are built into Windows 10 and Time Machine integrated into MacOS performed less well though delivered reliable backups.
Experts consulted to not create a backup on an internal hard drive as it is easily lost once the computer or the hard drive breaks. It is better to use an external hard drive which is an external 2.5in hard drive which is cheaper or an SSD hard drive which is faster, that is disconnected from the PC after each backup.
The drive also must have a USB 3 port, which is much faster than USB 2. It is also an initiative to keep a backup outside of your four walls. As an example, you can keep it with your friends or family members in their drive. This method somehow still not helping in the case of fire or water damage.
USB memory sticks are only your second-best option according to the experts. Even though they are not as powerful as hard drives, have a short lifespan, slower files transferring and high potential to lose, this is next to the best we have for data keeping.
In conclusion, the choices are up to us to decide. If the damage ought to happen, it will happen no matter what we do to preserve them. However, it’s not wrong to invest in something beneficial and secure as long as it is worth it.
