Freelance Writing: Simple Tips on Complicated Topics
Freelance Writing – Back Up Your Data Edition
All computer users, at some point, have lost data from their computer: either because the document processing software did not save the most recent changes, or because of accidental deletion.
My typical way to lose files is when I am cleaning out superfluous files and discover that I have tossed out something crucial!
What can you do to prevent such disasters? Are there techniques or software that can help? Sure – there are many solutions to this problem. First, however, let’s start with the basic strategies to keep what you store on your computer safe: not only your documents, but your valuable pictures and other files.
First, you must back up every piece of data externally. For example, I copy my photos to DVDs at least every six months. This might sound excessive, but consider my recent experience. A year ago, my PC was infected with a really nasty virus that led to a blue screen nearly every time I booted up. I had to reinstall my OS. In order to wipe the virus out, I had to format both of my hard drives ( believe me, I tried the easy way out by merely reinstalling the OS and performing checks with a variety of anti-virus software – no dice). Eventually, I was left with two clean hard drives.
Additionally, since I had copied a lot of info and the most valuable: my pics to my flash drives some time before the virus struck, I was able to retrieve all my data. This did not include some of my latest photos, but these were stored on Flickr. Thus I did not lose much of anything, because I had backed up everything.
This virus horror story, neatly averted, leads us to another solution: If playing games is not the main activity occupying your computer, you need to change your operating system. If you own a Mac, this is not a big deal. However, if you own a PC, you have probably noticed that Windows has a fatal attraction for viruses and malware. Your defense? Install Ubuntu, a great operating system from Linux. I have been using it on my PC for nearly a year now, and have not had problems at all.
Although getting used to the OpenOffice word processor took some time (you can count on honesty in this blog) because MS Word is clearly slightly more user friendly, the switch was absolutely worth it.
OK, now we have successfully solved the problem of preventing viruses and backing up your precious data, let’s move on to the problem that haunts many freelancer writers. It is the dreaded matter of saving documents and changes to them. The most effective solution is to train yourself to follow the best procedure every time. First, use the SAVE AS command to create a name and location for your document – AS SOON AS YOU OPEN THE NEW PAGE!
That way, the automatic save feature (more on that in a moment) will put it somewhere where you can find it again. Next, save every time you type in a really juicy paragraph or a particularly apt point. Merely pressing the Ctrl+S keys will save the document to the file name you have created. I, for example, press this combination after nearly every sentence. Believe me, this has saved my day several hundred times. For example, when my laptop battery was close to dying, and when there was a power blackout at the office, I was covered! These are just the most dramatic instances I remember. This habit has saved me dozens, if not hundreds of hours of retyping and/or editing.
Your email. I am sure that you have read about the most recent Gmail blackout, which caused dozens of accounts to lose data such as old emails, contact lists, and other items without which we can no longer survive! Accounts were practically re-started.
This sort of mishap makes you stop and think about backing up your email accounts. This is especially important if they are registered on some important sites, and you use them for logging in to accounts on various networks. Fortunately, there are a number of solutions.
This one allows you to back up your Gmail account to another Gmail address; the e-mails basically get to be resent to that address. There is another option, which helps you to synchronize Gmail with your Mozilla Thunderbird – you can find more details here. There are literally dozens of options to back up your e-mails. A word to the wise: if you are going to use third party tools for backup, be sure to change your email passwords afterwards for security purposes.
I hope that you’ll use these tips to the fullest extent possible. Have a great day, and keep your data safe!
If you want more info on the topic – check out this older article from our blog. It will especially be useful for those users, who still work on Windows XP!
Cheers!
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