1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Jack Threads is the online shopping destination for dudes. Everything 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: on the side is up to eight percent off. All 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: styles are curated, so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. What's 4 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: more is if you were brain Stuff, you can skip 5 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: the membership wait list and get instant access at jack 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: threads dot com slash stuff. Welcome to Brainstuff from house 7 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. We're smart happens h I am 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: Marshall Brain with today's question, how do you back up 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,639 Speaker 1: the hard disk drive on your home or office computer? 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: Last week, we had a tragedy in the Brain household. 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: Our main hard disc died. We have six people in 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: the Brain family and a total of seven computers hooked 13 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: up to the network. The hard disc on the main 14 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: computer died. This is a tragedy because the main computer 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: is the one that houses all our family files, most 16 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: importantly the forty seven thousand plus photos and videos of 17 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: the Brain kids growing up, but also financial records, business records, 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: book manuscripts, and so on. The main computer then shares 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: those files with all the other computers in the house 20 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: so that everyone can access them whenever they want to. Fortunately, 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: this turned out to be only a time tragedy rather 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: than a family memory tragedy. It took a lot of 23 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: time to replace that hard disk. It was not a 24 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: memory tragedy, however, because there was a backup from the 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: night before and we lost none of our files. If 26 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: there had not been a backup copy, there would be 27 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: nothing left of those forty seven thousand plus photos and 28 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,839 Speaker 1: all the other files that were on that hard disk, 29 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: which brings up a good question. Have you backed up 30 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: your computer lately, and if not, what's the best way 31 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: to do it. Let's take a look at some of 32 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: the possibilities. There are three ways for you to back 33 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: up your hard disk. First, you can manually back it 34 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: up to an external hard drive. Second, you can get 35 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: an external hard drive that will automatically back it up, 36 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: or third you can back get up on the internet. 37 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: There are advantages and disadvantages to all three of these, 38 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: so we can look at them and see what those 39 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: advantages and disadvantages are. In the case of the Brain family, 40 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: we use option too. I bought an external hard drive 41 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: and it came with software that backs up the main 42 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: computer's hard disk automatically. If you want to go to 43 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: this route, go to the store and look at the 44 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: different external hard drive options. You can find external hard 45 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: drives just about anywhere at best Buy or New Egg 46 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: or Amazon. If an external hard drive comes with software 47 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: for backups, the box will talk about it. The question 48 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 1: you will have to answer is how big of an 49 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: external hard drive do you need? This depends on how 50 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: many files you have on your hard disk, which you 51 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: can easily discover using the Windows Explorer. And then you 52 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: right click on your documents folder and choose the properties option. 53 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: It'll tell you how many files you have and how 54 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: big they are. Let's say that you have a hundred 55 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: gigabytes of files in your documents folder. Five hundred gigabyte 56 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: external hard drive would be plenty big for that, and 57 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: these only cost about seventy dollars right now. So you 58 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: get home, you plug the external drive into your computer, 59 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: You spend a couple of minutes setting up the software, 60 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: You start the backup process, and bang, your files get 61 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: backed up. If you set a schedule, your files will 62 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: get backed up every day. Some drives, for example, something 63 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: called the My Book Essential, will even backup files the 64 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: instant you create or modify them. This is great. An 65 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: external hard drive will handle the case of a hard 66 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: drive crash on your computer, but it does not handle 67 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: the case of something like a lightning strike. A lightning 68 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: strike will destroy everything plugged into the wall, including your 69 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: computer and the backup drive. To eliminate this vulnerability, you 70 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: want an external backup drive that you unplugged and keep 71 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: in a safe place by a second external hard drive, 72 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: and use it for this purpose. You can back up 73 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: your files manually. Simply select your documents folder and drag 74 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: it over to the external hard drive folder after you 75 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: plug the drive into your machine. When your computer is 76 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,119 Speaker 1: done copying all the files, unplugged the drive and move 77 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: it to a safe place in your house somewhere. Make 78 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: sure it's not plugged into the wall. That works well, 79 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: but what if your house burns down. Now you're gonna 80 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: lose your computer and your backup and your extra backup. 81 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: You may want to keep a third external hard drive 82 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: at a trusted friends or relatives house or in a 83 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: safe deposit box at the bank. This is called an 84 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: offsite backup. You might swap it out only once a 85 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: week or once a month, but it's better than nothing. 86 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: Or there may be a company in your area that 87 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: specializes in offsite backups. All these external hard drives maybe 88 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: starting to sound like a pain in the neck. To 89 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,559 Speaker 1: be adequately protected with them, you need two or three 90 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: and you have to rotate them periodically to maintain a 91 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: current offsite backup. That's why Internet backup services have become 92 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: so popular. You pay a monthly or an annual fee, 93 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: and your backup is kept with a company on the Internet. 94 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: Your computer backs itself up automatically through your Internet connection, 95 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: and you never have to worry about lightning strikes or 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: house fires. A number of companies sell these services, including Carbonite, Norton, 97 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: I Drive, Mosey, and many others. If you look on 98 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: the internet, it's easy to find articles that review all 99 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: these services and give you pricing. There are some extra 100 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: advantages offered by these online services that can make them 101 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: even more appealing, like the fact that you can then 102 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: access your files anywhere in the world once they're backed 103 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: up to the Internet server. The only disadvantage of these 104 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: Internet services is that most home Internet connections are fairly slow, 105 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: especially on the up link side. There's no way, as 106 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: far as I know, to use these services if you 107 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: have more than twenty or thirty gigabytes of data, and 108 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: if you have thirty gigabytes of data, it may take 109 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: more than a month to back up all your files 110 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,559 Speaker 1: the first time if you're in the less than thirty 111 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: gigabyte ballpark. However, internet backup services are a very easy 112 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: and safe way to protect your data. Whatever you do 113 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: do something, especially if you're working on a laptop that 114 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: you cart around with you on a regular basis, the 115 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: probability of dropping it or losing it is pretty high. 116 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: Without a backup, you could lose it all. For more 117 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Because it has 118 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: staff works dot com, Jack threads is the online shopping 119 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: destination for dudes. Everything on the side is up to off, 120 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: all styles are curated, so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. 121 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: What's more is, if you were brain stuff, you can 122 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: skip the membership wait list and get instant access at 123 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: jack threads dot com slash stuff