“It happens to the best of us. “
Picture this:
You are coasting through your work week, maybe surfing the net - when suddenly you get the blue screen of death.
Or maybe everything just turns off without explanation… whatever the scenario - most of us have been there at least once before; your machine has gone belly up.
Do you:
a.) cry, whimper, curse, then cry some more
b.) throw things
c.) hyperventilate
d.)all of the above
e.) none of the above - you were totally prepared for this moment
If your answer is A, B, C, or D then you’d be in the majority. My own father recently encountered this scenario with his personal computer and (I’m sad to say) lost over two years of family photos!!! (Ay yi yi!)
I thought I’d post a little helpful info here for all of you procrastinators who had good intentions of backing up your digital photos from New Years 2004 - but maybe haven’t gotten around to it yet… (Sound familiar?)
Lots of y’all have film negatives from years ago stuffed in shoe boxes somewhere, yet you’ve never thought to protect the digital photographs you downloaded 19 months ago. And before you ask - NO, downloading to your computer is not a safe method of long-term storage for your images. You should ALWAYS make a second and even third copy of your digital image files.
I’d suggest you make backups part of your downloading and image viewing routine. You can burn you files to CDs and/or DVDs for added security - and for important photos, I recommend investing in a waterproof/fireproof safe for your digital media storage. We keep a few large safes in the office that offer a digital media thermostat control - to ensure that the media does not get overheated and corrupted in the event of a fire. We also invest in off site storage - including a security deposit box at an out of area bank. That might be overkill for some of you, in which case you might try sending an additional copy of the images on disc to a family member for safe keeping.
Hard drive failure can be devastating if you aren’t prepared. Find some time this week to backup your important family photos…
And now, I am stepping off the soapbox…
Read more about how to store your digital photos at USA Today online