There are so many ways to screw up a working computer. Getting hit with a virus suck. But, there are other ways. Spyware, even badly behaved programs can put you into meltdowns that can't be resolved by anything but a reinstall. With kids going back to school, this is an ideal time (before the rush of homework assignments) to make sure that you're backed up!
There is nothing quite so awful as the feeling of going to print a paper you've spent a semester on only to find out that it has been deleted by a virus or by mistake, unless, of course, it is when you turn on your computer and nothing happens - your whole system is gone.
Backing up is essential, but most of us don't do it until we've lost something important. Trust me, loading up your computer with operating system, applications and documents is no treat.
When I get a machine working just the way I want it I always back it up using Ghost 12 (Symantec $66.99) and an external hard disk. This takes a snapshot of the system in its pristine state. If my system gets corrupted I just pop in the Ghost CD and in an hour or so everything has been copied back to the computer. Why use Ghost, instead of the supplied software that comes with the drive? Why not rely on the One Touch backup software that comes with many Maxtor drives? While that software does a good job of taking care of your documents, it won't recover a machine that won't boot. Ghost does. And it has saved my sanity on more than a few occasions when all seemed lost down the cyber-drain.
There are other imaging solutions out there, including several free utilities. The only one I have had repeated good experiences with is Ghost. It provides imaging and file-by-file backup that consistantly works.
