Making a back up copy of your documents is like purchasing some insurance. You do not buy insurance because you hope to use it. But in case of trouble, you are glad that you paid the premiums.
This is the season of your career and ministry to establish the habit of backing up important files.
WHY
Imagine you have invested time and energy to research, read and otherwise prepare to write a paper for class. You have invested hours in writing the paper (and getting the footnotes correct). Yet without a backup, all of this investment is at risk. You are exposed to major loss.
Without warning your hard drive could crash. Your laptop could fall to the floor and damage the memory. Your laptop could be stolen. A cup of coffee could spill on the desktop computer and cause all kinds of troubles. A new virus could get past the virus scanning software before it is updated and corrupt your files. Fires and floods happen.
Every term a few students experience the tragic loss of data. Some students have back up copies, but not every student.
The paper is still due at the date it was assigned. But now you may need to spend much time trying to recover the file or starting to research and write from zero if you do not have a back up copy. A seminary student never has extra time to do the same work again.
WHAT
A back up copy is another copy of a document that is a work in progress and/or a completed document.
WHEN
The frequency of making a back up copy boils down to a judgment call. One time a week may be a good rhythm for you as a baseline for all school related folders. But if the huge paper is due in a few days and you have been burning the midnight oil … then more saving often would seem to be a smart move. At the end of the term you could make a final backup for future reference purposes.
HOW
What follows is a list of possible options. You need to prayerfully decide which form of back up is best in each case. And it may be a combination of methods in the more complicated situations.
Different folder – A backup copy can be kept on the same hard drive but in a different folder. This is a suitable solution in some cases. Sometimes a document or folder can become corrupted. Yet the backup copy might still be useable.
Floppy disk, thumb drive or zip disk – Using magnetic media may be the simplest and quickest way to make temporary backups. But for long-term storage these take up more space than CDs. Also they are subject to the slight but real risk of corruption or erasure if exposed to a strong magnetic field or too much heat (like in a closed car during a hot summer day)
CD – An option is to burn all your critical documents to a CD. Then just burn the files that have been modified as needed. This can become part of your weekly routine, when you pay the bills or another memorable interval. You may wish to send yourself a reminder to do this using Remember To dot com www.rememberto.com(This free service can serve in many other ways too.)
External hard drive – An option is to buy and use an external hard drive for backups. You will probably find many other uses for this device too.
Online service – There are many and various online backup services available. Just put the three terms Online, Backup and Service into a major search engine like Google to find out more about the kinds of products and prices that are offered. An advantage is that these can be set to automatically back up selected files on a determined schedule without you needing to take any other action.
Off site – For insurance against the worst-case scenario like fire, flood or other catastrophe, in some cases, it may be prudent to keep an archive copy off site. That may mean in a safe deposit box, at your parent’s house, at the office of a close friend, etc. Maybe you can mail a few CDs to a close friend or relative every month, quarter or year. And maybe they can do mail theirs to you.
FUTURE
It is wise to get into the habit of making back up copies of all critical documents. During this season of seminary studies the emphasis is on securing a copy of the progressive versions of a major paper that is underway. Then at the end of the term it may be wise to make a back up copy and place this in a secure location for future reference. In other words, in 3 to 12 years from now you may be called upon to prepare a series of lessons on a subject. You may wish to refer to your class notes and the papers you wrote this term. But you might have moved twice and bought new computers. A wise system of backups will give you ready access to such useful resources.
Learning to backup household files is a prudent habit too, especially financial and tax related records.
A decade from now you might be serving the Body of Christ as a staff member of a local church or as a leader in a missions agency. By the grace of God you will have responsibilities for a key department. One of the 99 balls you must juggle constantly is to make sure that all the key data is backed up in a timely and secure manner. Some examples include the roster of member contact data, financial records, minutes of meetings, research notes, digital photos and videos, sermon outlines, etc. These need to be periodically backed up.
Fortunately if you begin in 2005 to get into the habit of backing up files, and you stay on top of the most appropriate ways to do this as the technologies advance; then you will be ready in case of the worst case scenario and you will be able to access your files.
This is the season of your career and ministry to establish the habit of backing up important files.
WHY
Imagine you have invested time and energy to research, read and otherwise prepare to write a paper for class. You have invested hours in writing the paper (and getting the footnotes correct). Yet without a backup, all of this investment is at risk. You are exposed to major loss.
Without warning your hard drive could crash. Your laptop could fall to the floor and damage the memory. Your laptop could be stolen. A cup of coffee could spill on the desktop computer and cause all kinds of troubles. A new virus could get past the virus scanning software before it is updated and corrupt your files. Fires and floods happen.
Every term a few students experience the tragic loss of data. Some students have back up copies, but not every student.
The paper is still due at the date it was assigned. But now you may need to spend much time trying to recover the file or starting to research and write from zero if you do not have a back up copy. A seminary student never has extra time to do the same work again.
WHAT
A back up copy is another copy of a document that is a work in progress and/or a completed document.
WHEN
The frequency of making a back up copy boils down to a judgment call. One time a week may be a good rhythm for you as a baseline for all school related folders. But if the huge paper is due in a few days and you have been burning the midnight oil … then more saving often would seem to be a smart move. At the end of the term you could make a final backup for future reference purposes.
HOW
What follows is a list of possible options. You need to prayerfully decide which form of back up is best in each case. And it may be a combination of methods in the more complicated situations.
Different folder – A backup copy can be kept on the same hard drive but in a different folder. This is a suitable solution in some cases. Sometimes a document or folder can become corrupted. Yet the backup copy might still be useable.
Floppy disk, thumb drive or zip disk – Using magnetic media may be the simplest and quickest way to make temporary backups. But for long-term storage these take up more space than CDs. Also they are subject to the slight but real risk of corruption or erasure if exposed to a strong magnetic field or too much heat (like in a closed car during a hot summer day)
CD – An option is to burn all your critical documents to a CD. Then just burn the files that have been modified as needed. This can become part of your weekly routine, when you pay the bills or another memorable interval. You may wish to send yourself a reminder to do this using Remember To dot com www.rememberto.com(This free service can serve in many other ways too.)
External hard drive – An option is to buy and use an external hard drive for backups. You will probably find many other uses for this device too.
Online service – There are many and various online backup services available. Just put the three terms Online, Backup and Service into a major search engine like Google to find out more about the kinds of products and prices that are offered. An advantage is that these can be set to automatically back up selected files on a determined schedule without you needing to take any other action.
Off site – For insurance against the worst-case scenario like fire, flood or other catastrophe, in some cases, it may be prudent to keep an archive copy off site. That may mean in a safe deposit box, at your parent’s house, at the office of a close friend, etc. Maybe you can mail a few CDs to a close friend or relative every month, quarter or year. And maybe they can do mail theirs to you.
FUTURE
It is wise to get into the habit of making back up copies of all critical documents. During this season of seminary studies the emphasis is on securing a copy of the progressive versions of a major paper that is underway. Then at the end of the term it may be wise to make a back up copy and place this in a secure location for future reference. In other words, in 3 to 12 years from now you may be called upon to prepare a series of lessons on a subject. You may wish to refer to your class notes and the papers you wrote this term. But you might have moved twice and bought new computers. A wise system of backups will give you ready access to such useful resources.
Learning to backup household files is a prudent habit too, especially financial and tax related records.
A decade from now you might be serving the Body of Christ as a staff member of a local church or as a leader in a missions agency. By the grace of God you will have responsibilities for a key department. One of the 99 balls you must juggle constantly is to make sure that all the key data is backed up in a timely and secure manner. Some examples include the roster of member contact data, financial records, minutes of meetings, research notes, digital photos and videos, sermon outlines, etc. These need to be periodically backed up.
Fortunately if you begin in 2005 to get into the habit of backing up files, and you stay on top of the most appropriate ways to do this as the technologies advance; then you will be ready in case of the worst case scenario and you will be able to access your files.
posted by John | 10:13 AM
