A stolen or broken computer or crashed hard disk is especially stressful and can be costly. If it happens in the evening or on a holiday weekend it may be very expensive to get tech support, hardware, and software licenses to recreate the requisite environment. It seems that computers rarely crash after you’ve finished a major project. Instead, they crash right before the dead-line after some of the major contributors have left for vacation.

To reduce the risk of serious work interruption due to a computer crash or theft try these simple suggestions.

• Defragment your hard disk every Friday afternoon (or whenever your week ends). A fragmented hard disk decreases performance — the computer’s and yours.
• Make a copy of all the necessary files you need for the current project at the end of each day. Ideally, on a CD or DVD. This way if the computer is damaged, stolen, or the files go missing you can restore them or continue work on a different computer. Flash drives are great too but they’re easy to lose.
• Keep a backup computer new or used. You can buy a good one at Walmart for under $300. Put only the essential pieces of software on it.
• Keep all your work software (i.e. MS Office, Quick Books, etc.) in a safe place and do not lend it to anyone.
• Consider free software such as Open Office. If you suddenly need to rebuild your work environment you won’t need to run out to find an open store to buy the license.
• If you’re on the road and don’t have the necessary backup media try e-mailing or even faxing a copy to your home or office.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.