When Did You Last Back Up?When Did You Last Back Up?

The UserFriendly.Org comic strip, which I've followed on and off for years, recently had a series in which a hapless user's computer dies, and he, of course, hasn't bothered to use the tape backup drive that the tech supplied him with. The tech simmers with righteous fury -- until his own hard drive fries, and he realizes that he hasn't backed up either.Backing up data, like eating our vegetables, is something that most of us know we should do, that we have to do, and yet we always find an excuse not to do it. Of course, part of the problem is that if you're an employee of a corporation with an efficient and well-equipped IT department, somebody will make sure that all the data on the network -- like, say, your e-mail -- will be safely backed up. Sometimes there'll even be a handy automatic backup applet that will take care of all the stuff on your hard drive.

But if we're talking personal systems -- or if you're employed by a company that feels the data on your hard drive is your own responsibility -- then you've got to save all that important material somewhere, or one day you're doing to be a very, very unhappy camper.

I've got to admit that I have a tendency to neglect my backups. I have a small portable hard drive that I used for a while, but since that involves actually connecting it to a USB port and dealing with a less-than-ideal backup app, I've let things slip. I've been meaning to purchase a serious backup drive to connect to my home network, but, hey, it's too much trouble today, and tomorrow...is always tomorrow.

Which is why I was so interested in Serdar Yegulalp's recent review: Five Online Backup Services Keep Your Data Safe. This is backing up with a minimal amount of pain and effort (as long as you choose the right service). You don't have to buy an external or internal backup drive -- just install the application, register with the service, choose what you want backed up, set the backup times, and don't worry about it.

There are, of course, disadvantages to using one of these services. Free services tend to be too limited for most of us, and otherwise you're paying a subscription fee rather than the one-time cost of a hard drive. And there's always the chance that your chosen service will go out of business, or that you will need to restore a file -- and won't have a Web connection to call on.

But for those of us who can be lazy -- and who, in spite of occasional disasters, still neglect to back up our data -- these services can be pretty handy.