The worst freelancer's nightmare is staring at an empty screen when your system has crashed... Useful links

The worst freelancer's nightmare is staring at an empty screen when your system has crashed... Useful links - all about data backup

'My Computer's Blue screen of death' photo (c) 2009, Michael Ocampo - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

I obviously caught some very mean malware while doing a research for a project, so I had to completely restore the system. Luckily, I have a habit to always backup my files, so I didn't lose any of my business stuff. But I do feel very sad that I didn't backup my pictures and some other personal files. So I thought I'd make a list of useful software that can help me and you to keep your data safe.
I thought I'd mention 5-6 most used programs, but as I began researching the subject I suddenly found out there are so many great options! So even though my list is not huge, some links contain a wealth of highly useful information.

1. I found the first really useful link in Wikipedia. There is a whole list of backup software with some basic specifications of each program.
2. And here's comparison of online backup services for you.
3. Here's another Wikipedia list of data recovery software.
4. One of my favourite backup methods is saving all my files (or copying them) on a USB flash drive (and according to the info I read online it's one of the most popular ways people store their files now)
5. Dropbox is another service that helps me to store my files and use them on any computer in my network. It means I don't have to carry my USB flash drive with me all the time. I can store the most often used documents or current projects there and it works great (as soon as I have Internet connection, so I still save the files on my USB flash drive just in case ;))
6. You can save your files also in Google Drive. I don't normally do it since for me it's not as easy as using Dropbox, but I do my accounting in Google drive and I am very happy about it. None of the files important for the upcoming tax period were lost as a result. And yes, I can access them from any computer as soon as I remember my email login details :)
7. And here's another directory of backup software for you.

As freelancers, we have many things to take care of (and to worry about). So let's minimize those issues that we really CAN cope with and spend our time on more important things. Please let me know if you find the list helpful :)

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