Tomorrow is World Backup Day, an annual event invented to bring awareness to the masses around backups, data, and security. Most people know that they should back up their important data but many don’t do it.

Why? Some are busy and think setting up a backup scheme is too time-consuming, others might think it’s too hard or complicated, and many are worried that it will cost too much money. Guess what: none of that needs to be true.

Below are four fast or easy or inexpensive or free ways to back up your important files, including music, video, documents and more.

The most important thing to remember is that redundancy is your friend. Like grandma said, don’t put all your backups in one basket. Mix it up between local and offsite/cloud storage to make sure your data is safe no matter what happens.

Local Backup

Keeping a local backup makes it easy and fast to recover files if something goes wrong. You’ll need either a large external hard drive — 500GB minimum — or a NAS device. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage and, as the name implies, it connects to your entire home network, not just one computer.

I recommend a hard drive if you only have one or two computers in the house. If you have more than that and/or like to access files or media on every computer and possibly your TV, look into a NAS device.

1 – Hard Drives

If you don’t already have a large drive, here are my suggestions:

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra–portable Drive (PC and Mac)

Comes in sizes ranging from 500GB ($199) up to 1TB ($179). I recommend this one because it comes with a USB 3.0 interface, but you can also buy eSATA and Firewire interfaces for it so you can get the fastest backup speed no matter what ports your computer has. Plus, it includes good backup software.

Buy it @ Amazon

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive (PC and Mac)

For people who need more space, this drive comes in 1TB – 4TB sizes ($129 – $249). It’s great for a large media collection. It comes with either USB 2.0 or 3.0 connectors (I suggest going with 3.0) and users can also buy a Firewire adapter if needed. It also comes with backup software.

Buy it @ Amazon

2 – NAS Devices

LG Super Multi N2A2 (PC)

This NAS device is made for power home users, and though it’s easy to set up, I don’t recommend it for people who aren’t pretty comfortable with tech. Once set up, users can manage the device through a web interface. File transfers happen over the network, but since the drive itself is connected to your router via an Ethernet cable, it will happen fast. The drive has 2TB of space ($229) plus you can plug in an external hard drive to add more storage. There’s no backup software included.

Buy it @ Amazon

3 – Backup Software

If your hard drive or NAS device doesn’t come with a backup solution, you have a few good choices.

Time Machine (Mac)

This free utility included in Mac OS X backs up automatically after the initial setup and is easy to use.

Check out this post for details: How to Setup Time Machine on Your Mac

Create Synchronicity (Windows)

This free, open source backup solution will keep backups fresh by syncing when it detects changes. Though straightforward to use, it’s not as tech-novice friendly as other solutions. However, it’s pretty powerful for a free program.

Download It Here

Clickfree Automatic Backup Software (Windows)

This $30 program is perfect for people who want the easiest backup ever. You just install it, then connect an external hard drive via USB. The software asks if you want to use it for backup. Click yes and Clickfree does all the work for you, figuring out which files and folders to sync. Subsequent backups will only worry about files or folders that are new or have changed. Users can tweak the settings if they want, but otherwise you get hassle-free, automatic backups.

Download It @ Amazon

Macrium Reflect Free (Windows)

Most backup solutions concern themselves with your files and media and such, but it’s also a good idea to make a disk image of everything on your hard drive. Why? Because if the hard drive crashes and can’t be used anymore, you can buy a new drive and restore everything from your operating system to all of your programs plus your files. This kind of backup takes a long time and is pretty involved. Macrium Reflect makes it simple to do and is free.

Download It @ Macrium

4 – Cloud Backup

Backing up to the Cloud — which just means to an online service, not a local hard drive — shouldn’t be your only method of backup. It should be a backup to your backup.

Aside from keeping your files safe, it’s also useful for accessing them when you’re away from the computer. Most good cloud services have apps for phones and tablets, and all of them will allow you to sign in from any computer to manage or download files.

SugarSync

This is my cloud backup service of choice because the company offers 5GB of free space and reasonable rates if you want or need more. Plus, the free service allows for syncing across multiple computers. And you don’t have to sync just one folder, you can sync as many as you want.

SugarSync Plans: 5GB (Free) | 30GB ($4.99/mo or $49.99/yr) | 60GB ($9.99/mo or $99.99/yr) | 100GB ($14.99/mo or $149/yr)

DropBox

One of the most popular cloud sync services around, DropBox works similarly to SugarSync and will keep data up to date and accessible from multiple devices. Because it’s so popular, it makes sharing files with others easy, too. All they need is a free DropBox account.

DropBox Plans: 2GB (Free) | 50GB ($9.99/mo or $99.00/yr) | 100GB ($19.99/mo or $199.99/yr)

Google Music

I mention this because it’s hard to find a service that will allow you to back up your entire music collection online for free. 2GB or 5GB is fine for documents, but will fill up fast when you start in with media. Google allows you to upload up to 20,000 tracks for free then listen to them on Android phones or on any computer via a web interface.

iCloud

Mac, PC, iPhone and iPad users can sync data to iCloud, including music and video bought on iTunes, for free. There’s a 5Gb cap on photos, documents, email and calendar data, but there’s no limit to how much iTunes media you can store in the cloud. Essentially, if you bought it from itunes, you can re-download it at any time via iTunes on a computer or iDevice.

Learn how to setup and use iCloud:

• How to Sync Email, Contacts and Calendar with iCloud
• How to Setup iCloud’s Photo Stream on Mac
• How To Get iCloud’s Photo Stream Working On A Windows PC
• How to Download Previously Purchased Media from iTunes in the Cloud
• How to Set Up iTunes Match on All Your Computers and iOS Devices

These lists aren’t exhaustive, but are meant to give you an overview of what’s available. No matter which hard drive or NAS device or backup software or cloud service you prefer, take the time to set them up this weekend. It won’t take more than an hour and, for many of you, won’t cost any extra money.

More World Backup Day Posts:

• Backup Your iPhone and iPad Automatically
• Back Up Your Android Smartphone And Tablet Automatically

4 Fast, Easy, Inexpensive Or Free Backup Solutions For Mac and PC is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Apple finally released iTunes Match, which lets iTunes check all the music you have on your computer and then lets you access it from iCloud for a yearly fee. Setup isn’t complicated, but I want to show you the steps and warn of a snag or two, so you can take full advantage of the service with your computers and your iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad and even Apple TV.

First, this assumes a couple of things. You have to have the latest version of Mac OS X 10.7 if you are using a Mac. It also works on Windows. Then, you have to update iTunes to version 10.5.1. On a Mac, do this via the Apple menu by clicking on Software Update. On Windows you can download it manually from Apple.com/iTunes. Once installed you will find a new item in the left hand side of iTunes called iTunes Match. It goes away after you set things up.

Setup On Computers

Now, click iTunes Match and then go ahead and subscribe to the service. Apple will charge your credit card $24.95 before you can get started. After successfully charging your card, it then starts to go through the three-step process.

iTunes will gather information about your library. It reads your list of music files and then in step two it compares the music to their database of music to see if it has a compatible version of that song. Finally, in step three, it uploads the files that it didn’t find a match for in step two. In my case this required uploading 222 files.

Now, go to your other computers but wait till the process finishes on the first machine. I initially jumped the gun and tried to upload music from both of my MacBooks at once and it gave me an error message saying I had to wait till the first one finished uploading songs. Once it does, you can set things up on the other machines.

Setup On iOS

On your iOS device you turn this on by opening the Settings app, tap Music and the turn on iTunes Match. If you have an Apple TV you can also turn it on. There is a new tab called Music with iTunes Match as one of the items on that list.

Benefits of iTunes Match

What you get for your trouble is all of your matched music files in the cloud that you can then download to any of the devices or computers associated with your iTunes account. In my case I can access it via my iPad, my wife’s iPad, the three iPhones on our account and both of my MacBooks.

The music files are even upgraded once you match them and later download them.  Let’s say you ripped a song from an old CD in only 128-Kbps. The file you get to download from iTunes Match service will be encoded at the higher 256-Kbps in AAC format, which means you get better quality sound but at about the same or a lower total file size since AAC files are smaller than MP3 files. Also the files are DRM-free, so they should be playable on other devices besides iOS hardware or iPods. Files that have been matched but are not stored locally can be downloaded by clicking the little icon in iTunes seen to the right. Click the cloud and it begins to download the file.

See our coverage of the announcement at GottaBeMobile.com. For more information see Apple’s iCloud page.

How to Set Up iTunes Match on All Your Computers and iOS Devices is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Are you ready for the demands of going back to school? Wether you’re a student or parent, things are about to get a lot crazier. This means it’s more likely that someone will forget their homework on the computer at home. If you want to avoid running across campus or across town, you need a SugarSync account, and our giveaway can help you get even more storage.

What is SugarSync?

SugarSync is an easy way to backup files to the cloud, sync them to multiple computers and share large files with friends and family. You get 5GB for free when you sign up, but we are giving away a 30GB account so you can store even more files. SugarSync has apps for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, so you can have your files with you anywhere.

For more, check out out SugarSync review.

How You Can Use SugarSync

I use SugarSync to share files with coworkers, pics of friend’s kids and keep my files in sync with multiple computers. I also use it to share files with students.

College students can use it to back up all their important files and gain access from anywhere with an internet connection, like in class when you need to try to do a last minute change.

Parents can use this to keep their kids’ files on hand from their phone or from work. This way, if you get a panicked call or text, you can email the homework assignment to your student or their teacher without heading home.

How to Enter

Leave a comment below telling us why SugarSync would be a back to school life saver for you or your family.

For an extra chance, follow @Notebookscom and tweet the following;

“Pour some #SugarSync on me – I entered to win a 30GB account on @Notebookscom - http://wp.me/p1Djdz-gIp”

You can also enter over on GottaBeMobile for another two chances at winning.

You have until Wednesday September 14th at midnight Pacific to enter. Contest open to any area where t is legal and SugarSync subscriptions are accepted. The winner has 5 business days to respond and claim their prize or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Back to School Contest: Win 30GB SugarSync Account is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Seagate announced a new wireless hard drive called the GoFlex Satellite Wireless Hard Drive. At 500GB this drive will let you back things up without ever attaching your drive to your computer. It will also stream the content on the drive to up to three Apple iPads at the same time. It supports iOS and Android via apps or the browser.

Imagine driving down the road with the kiddos in the back seat and dad in the passenger side. The kids have the family’s iPad while Dad is working on some stuff for his job on the way to the beach so he can focus on the kids when they arrive. He can backup those reports while they watch that Disney flick on the iPad keeping them entertained, Dad busy and mom able to drive quietly or listening to some music from the drive via her iPhone.

The real question is how long will the battery last? Seagate is promising five hours of usage and 25 hours of standby time. That’s not too bad considering this is a traditional hard drive. We can image a much more expensive SSD that will last a lot longer, but at 500GB that SSD would likely be over $1,000 right now.

The drive supports 802.11 b/g/n standards. So it will support Mac or Windows, Apple iOS devices, Windows Phone 7 and Android. The apps for the last two are not yet ready, but the iPad app and separate iPhone/iPod touch apps are. Also the device can be accessed via web browser. It is also USB 3.0 compatible, so when you do hook it up to the computer transfer speeds will be pretty fast, so long as the computer has USB 3.0 ports too. Using the GoFlex interchangeable system you can also have an eSATA and Firewire 800 interface with optional adapters.

To set things up, tether it with your computer via the included USB port and load up the contents. You can charge it with the computer or the included wall adapter that can be used with the same USB cable.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite Wireless Hard Drive Demo Video:

The drive will be available soon from places like Amazon and BestBuy for $199.99 retail.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite Wireless Hard Drive Syncs and Streams Content is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

A stolen laptop is never a good thing, but with a little preparation, you can make sure that you don’t lose your data. Best of all, you don’t need to be a computer person to protect your data and laptop. If you can use Facebook or purchase a new pair of shoes online, you can protect your computer.

Why You Need to Protect Your Computer

Why is it so important to protect your computer and data? You may think that laptop theft can’t happen to you. You never leave your notebook unattended and you are always typing on it while at the coffee shop, so how could someone take it from you?

Well, quite easily actually. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a thief nabbed a new MacBook from a coffeeshop Patron while she was typing on it and — Poof — her notebook, pictures and school notes were all gone in a matter of seconds, whisked away in a gray Mercury Sable never to be seen again.

In this case, the victim lost 6 months of photos and a year’s worth of Nursing school notes. She didn’t backup her files because she was admittedly, “not a computer person,” but that shouldn’t stop you from backing up.

How to Backup Your Computer – In 5 Minutes

You don’t need to know computers to backup your important files these days. While you could use a tool like Springpad or Evernote to keep them safe and you’ll have Facebook picture uploads, we want to show you how to backup your computer in 5 minutes — without any computer knowledge. The actual backup will take longer, but if you have 5 minutes right now, you can setup a backup solution that will keep your data protected.

Backup Options: There are too many backup solutions to name, but we are going to focus on CrashPlan. CrashPlan is an easy to use and affordable backup service and software tool.

To get started, head over to CrashPlan.com and download the CrashPlan+ Free Trial. This software allows you to backup to the web for a fee or to backup to a hard drive or a friend’s computer for free.

Backup Cost: In this guide we will look at the CrashPlan+ Unlimited option which allows you to backup your whole computer to the web for $49.99 a year or cheaper with a longer term purchase. If you have multiple computers, you can pick the Family Unlimited Plan which has affordable plans for up to 10 computers.

How to Setup Automatic Backup: Install CrashPlan+ by double clicking on the file and following the prompts. When you have it installed, choose the folders you want backed up. Crashplan should find your normal Documents folders, but if you have items stored in other places, you will need to put a checkmark next to those folders.

How to Backup Your Mac or PC: That’s it. You’re done. The CrashPlan+ will begin backing up your files. The initial backup process may take a while, but you can still use your computer while the backup happens. If you leave your notebook on overnight you should be backed up before you know it. After the first backup, the backupswill happen faster and you won’t need to do anything, the backups will just happen.

What Next?

After the backups are in place, the software will keep your files up to date so that if your notebook crashes or is stolen, you can go online and get instant access to your files. When you replace your computer, you can use the CrashPlan software to restore your data to the new computer with just a few clicks.

Image Via quinn.anya

How to Backup Your Computer in 5 Minutes, Without Any Tech Background is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Backing up your computer is important enough that you shouldn’t need a day dedicated to it, or a collection of deals on online backup services and hard drives, but that is exactly what today is. March 31 is World Backup Day 2011, which should serve as a reminder to backup your computer, smartphone, iPad and even the hard copy pictures and documents you have around the house.

Why You Should Backup Regularly

Hard drive failures are one of the most common computer issues that friends and family bring to tech savvy individuals and unfortunately all to often when the hard drive crashes you’ve lost all of your documents, music, pictures and other important files. The sad part is that hard drives fail all the time, but note everyone takes the simple steps to backup their data. It used to require an afternoon and a B.S. in Computer Science to setup automatic offsite backups, but with the amazing collection of tools available today there’s no reason not to backup.

According to World Backup Day the annual hard drive failure rate is 3%, with a climb to 6% for 3-year old hard drives. When hard drives crash the data is often un-recoverable. Companies like DriveSavers can try, but all too often the hard drive is just too damaged to save your data.

If nothing else gets you to backup, think of the explaining you’ll have to do when your kid is 18 and you have to explain why you have no pictures of his first three years of life because you never backed up. Got it? Good, now let’s find out how to backup.

What is World Backup Day?

World Backup Day was born on Reddit, after user adamjeff proposed that everyone could use a “reminder to save all your cherished pictures, videos and other important data to somewhere secure.” So, on March 31 2011 we suggest you revisit your backup practices, start backing up and most importantly test your backup processes. Now there’s a World Backup Day website and a Facebook page.

How to Backup?

There are a few ways to backup your computer built right into the operating system. If you have Mac OS X you can use Time Machine to backup your files automatically. On Windows, you can backup your installation of Windows 7 and setup a backup to an external hard drive.

Thankfully, there are plenty of additional methods of backing up which are incredibly simple and can help you backup to an offsite location as well as locally. It’s important to keep a copy of your files at a different location that way they are safe in the case of a natural disaster or fire.

Online Backup Services:

CrashPlan and CrashPlan+: CrashPlan provides a free tool that allows you to backup your data to an external hard drive or to another computer at your house or to a friend’s computer. The paid version, CrashPlan+, adds online backup to the mix so that you have your data in multiple locations. CrashPlan+ starts at $1.50 a month for a limited account, and can include your entire family for as low as $6 a month with unlimited storage that covers all of your house.

Carbonite: Carbonite offers an automatic online backup solution with unlimited storage and easy access to your files for recovery or for access on the go using the iPad app or Carbonite website. Carbonite includes one computer for $54.95 a year. Check out our Carbonite Review.

Mozy: Mozy also offers automatic online backup as well as software to backup to a local hard drive. The Mozy service offers 50GB of backup space for $5.99 a month or 125GB for $9.99 a month.

SugarSync: SugarSync offers 5GB of storage for free and will automatically sync your files to the web and to multiple computers. With SugarSync, you need to identify the folders you want to backup, but it is a very easy process. The larger plans start at 30GB for $49.99 a year and range up to 250GB for $250 a year. SugarSync has given Notebooks a free 30GB promo code to give away, check out the World Backup Day Deals below to find out how you can enter to win.

World Backup Day Deals on Online Backup Services, Storage and Software

SugarSync: SugarSync has partnered with Notebooks.com to give away a free 30GB 1 year subscription to SugarSync. To Enter Follow @SugarSyncand @Notebookscom and tweet the following: “I’m in to win a @SugarSync 30GB/year account from @Notebooks.com  Find out How & Check Out these Backup Deals -Notebooks.com/go/BackupDay”

CrashPlan: Giving away 5 1-year unlimited subscriptions for following @CrashPlan on Twitter and tweeting: “I’m celebrating #WorldBackupDay by backing up my personal and business data with @CrashPlan! How are you celebrating @WorldBackUpDay?”

SpiderOak: SpiderOak is giving away free upgrades to 5GB of online storage for users who signup on World Backup Day and also offering 10% off all paid plans. You can also enter to win one of 10 100GB online backup and storage accounts by tweeting with the hashtag #worldbackupday.

BackBlaze: BackBlaze is another online backup storage and backup service and is offering 10% off with the coupon code worldbackupday. Additionally, you can enter to win one of 10 Unlimited online storage subscriptions by including the hashtag #backblaze in a Tweet.

MiMedia: Earn a chance at one of 10 100GB MiMedia online acccounts by following @MiMedia and tweeting with the hashtag #MiMediaCo.

Paragon: Paragon is offering 40% off the Paragon Backup and Recovery Suite with the coupon code ParagonBackup.

ScanMyPhotos: ScanMyPhotos is offering 10% off of photo digitizing which is a great way to backup the shoeboxes of pictures you have stored around the house. The prepaid box costs $184 and includes free S/H and same day scanning. Use coupon code Twitter to save 10%.

DollyDrive: Dolly Drive is giving away a free year of free storage and an iPod Touch. You can find the details at Dolly Drive. For more, check out our Dolly Drive Review.

Seagate: Seagate is offering discounts on a collection of hard drives through Friday including the 750GB and 1TB ultra-portable products and the 2TB and 3TB GoFlex Desk products. Prices range from $78-143.00. Checkout the Seagate Specials.

These are just the World Backup Day deals we could find, we’re sure to see many more throughout the day and we’ll update the post with the deals. Don’t forget to enter to win our free 30GB SugarSync account!

World Backup Day Deals: Save On Online Backup, Hard Drives and Storage is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

MyDitto is a dead simple way to add network attached storage to your home network. The MyDitto system adds a hard drive to your home or office network and thanks to the included USB keys, can easily be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection — even away from home. If you don’t want to use the USB keys, you can can also mount the disk like a standard network drive for easy access. There’s also an iPad app and the whole system can be set up in about 15 minutes with a power cord and a network cable.

MyDitto Easy to Use Network Attached Storage

The MyDitto home network storage tool is honestly one of the easiest ways to add extra storage to your home setup and share files between computers. The MyDitto we have in for review comes with a 500GB hard drive and retails for $150. You can also get a 1TB MyDitto that retails for $183, a 2TB MyDitto for $203 or a 4TB MyDitto for $378. The MyDitto system includes 2 hard drive bays so we could easily add more storage with a standard hard drive or connect a hard drive to the USB ports if you need more storage.

MyDitto Hard Drive Bay

MyDitto Video Overview

Access

The MyDitto NAS allows you to access files stored on the device from Mac and PC using a standard network share method in Explorer or Finder, which is great for those of us with a little bit of tech knowhow, but there are also two included USB thumbdrives that can be plugged into your computer to open up the MyDitto app which connects to the storage from any network, not just at home.

MyDitto Thumbdrive

You can choose to install the MyDitto Client to your computer full-time as well, which allows you to leave the flashdrive at home. If you want to create multiple logins and access for users you can create new MyDitto thumbdrives using the MyDitto device. The use of a thumbdrive for easy access is what sets the MyDitto system apart from the competition in terms of ease of use. Network shares can be finicky and most average users don’t understand them, but they do get that they can access their files by plugging in a thumbdrive.

MyDitto Map Network Drive

There is also an iPad app that can connect to view files and can be used to play music files as well. The iPad app has come a long way since we first saw it late last year, but there are still a few times where we had to wait for the app to be ready for our password. Once connected we had easy access to our files and could play back mp3 files we had uploaded to the MyDitto.

Backup

The MyDitto system includes software that can be used to automatically back up your local computer. We had mixed results with this tool, ranging from an easy setup and initial sync to high CPU usage during some backups. If you want to use this as backup you might want to look at the Crashplan which provides free software for backing up to an external hard drive or folder.

Unfortunately you cannot use the MyDitto with Time Machine on Mac, but you can access the files through the Finder App or with the MyDitto drive and you can use CrashPlan to backup to the network attached drive.

BitTorrent

MyDitto BitTorrent Settings

One really cool feature that comes with the MyDitto is the ability to use it to download torrent files. You can login to the Advanced settings and paste in a torrent location or upload a torrent you have downloaded and the MyDitto will download the torrent and place it in the MyTorrents folder for playback. We tested this out and had great results.

Media

In addition to acting as storage, the MyDitto can be used as a media server to serve up media files to iTunes and to UPnP/DLNA compliant devices like the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. We found that the iTunes sharing worked fine and were able to listen to a collection of music streamed over the home network without any issues, while we downloaded a movie on Bitorrent.

MyDitto iPad App Music Playback

The streaming to DLNA and UPnP devices does work, but the MyDitto won’t transcode or convert the video files to match the system you are streaming to. This means that if you download popular movies or TV shows online you won’t be able to stream those. You can however give TVersity or Air Video access to those folders to stream to your iPad or Xbox 360.

Print Server

The MyDitto has a built in print server which will allow you to network a printer. We weren’t able to test this feature out, but some users may find it to be a great extra.

Conclusion

We held off on posting our review of the MyDitto because it was a little rough around the edges when we first received the unit. Fortunately, there have been numerous updates to the MyDitto device, software and the iPad app which have really shown what the MyDitto can do. The MyDitto is easy to setup, easy to use and allows you to access your files wherever you go. We also like that there are no monthly fees associated with the service. Once you purchase the MyDitto device you can access your data wherever you are even if you don’t have the IT skill normally needed to setup this type of network attached storage.

While the MyDitto device is simple enough for novices to use, there are enough advanced controls and settings to keep advanced users satisfied.

Pros:

• Easy to setup
• Easy to use
• Access files from anywhere
• Mount network drive
• Access with USB drive
• Affordable
• Expandable to larger hard drives

Cons:

• Backup can be finicky
• iPad app isn’t perfect
• Streaming works, but doesn’t convert videos to a compatible format

MyDitto Gallery

MyDitto Review: Affordable Network Attached Storage That’s Simple To Use is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

This tutorial will show you how to configure Time Machine for the first time. Time Machine makes backing up your Mac’s files, effortless. If you haven’t configured Time Machine on your Macbook or iMac yet, right now would be the perfect time to do so.

Why should you use Time Machine?

They say, “Storage is cheap, your data not so much.” I have been using Time Machine on my Macbook Pro since day one. Computers are designed to make our lives easier and not the other way round. A comprehensive backup of your system gives you the peace of mind that you deserve.

A lot of users have various myths about backing up their systems. Some are afraid they are going to waste far too much space while others worry about having the system run slow during backup operations.

However, once Time Machine is configured, it will, like most of the things designed at Apple, get your task of backing up done with no effort from your end. You can use it at a later date to restore the whole system or to recover a few files to a previous state. In case you’re wondering why they call it the Time Machine, you’ll learn that in a bit.

What do you need for Time Machine?

Both Leopard and Snow Leopard have Time Machine built right into them. No extra software is required. All you need is a hard drive to store backup information. While you can backup to a different partition on your Mac’s hard drive, a more sound thing to do is to use a separate external hard drive.

Got a drive ready? Let’s get to setting up your very first Time Machine.

Setting up Time Machine for the first time

If you have never configured a Backup Disk on your Mac, you will be prompted every time you connect an external disk and asked if you would want to use this disc with Time Machine. Select Use as Backup Disk to use this disk.

In case, you need to partition your drive first select Decide Later and create your partitions using Disk Utility. Your backup destination should ordinarily be at least twice the size of the disk you are backing up. Once the drive is ready, go to System Preferences > Time Machine and click on Select Backup Disk.

Select the disk from the list that appears and click on Use for Backup.

Selecting Disk to be used for Time Machine Backup

That’s all you actually need to configure. Apple does not believe in confusing its users by giving them a lot of options. Time Machine does not ask you for backup frequency. It is preconfigured to keep the following backups.

• Hourly Backups for past 24 hours
• Daily Backups for past one month
• Weekly Backups for all previous months

The oldest backup is deleted when the Backup Disk runs out of space.

Since you have already selected the Backup Disk, the Time Machine slider should now be set to ON and the countdown before the First Backup should have begun.

The first backup will take quite some time, so you should do it in the evening so that you can leave your Mac switched ON for the backup to finish overnight.

You can use your Mac at all times during backups and your work will not interrupt the backup process. After the first backup, Time Machine will attempt to backup all the files that have changed since last backup on an hourly basis.

You can see the progress of your backup in the TIme Machine preferences window or by clicking on the Time Machine icon in the Menu Bar.

Optional Time Machine Settings

In the Time Machine preferences window, click on Options to select which items to exclude from the backup. By default, all external drives are excluded.

Items excluded from Time Machine Backups

You can also select if you want to allow Time Machine to backup when running on battery power. Personally, I prefer having my Mac backed up only when plugged in.

Browsing Time Machine

You can browse through Time Machine you just created by selecting Enter Time Machine after clicking on the menu bar icon.

You should now see where Time Machine derived its name from.

Browsing the Time Machine in Mac OS X

You can use the timeline on the left to browse to a previous week. As you can see, my Time Machine dates back to June 2010.

In the next tutorial, we’ll show you how to restore a specific file from Time Machine and also how to restore the full system from backup.

How to Setup Time Machine on Your Mac [Mac OS X] is a post by Rajat Kumar from Notebooks.com.

In case you missed the news Gmail had a failure this weekend for a small number of users who found their contacts and emails gone. As in poof, vanished. Goodbye. For users who backup via IMAP or another method this was an inconvenience, but if you leave your only copy of data in the cloud, it’s a reminder that you should backup your Gmail account.

Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to sign up for a free year of Backupify which will backup your Gmail data after a quick signup process. The service will backup your contacts and emails, protecting them from the issues of backing up to a single system.

From now through midnight eastern on March 1st Backupify is giving away a free one year subscription to Backupify Pro 100 which backs up

• Gmail
• Google Docs
• Google Sites
• Google Calendar
• Google Contacts,
• Google Apps
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Facebook
• Zoho
• Picasa

To get a free year of Backupify Pro 100 simply sign up for the free trial and enter the coupon code savegmail when checking out. Backupify will convert you from a free trial to a one year membership within 48 hours.

Via Lifehacker

Backup Gmail Free with Backupify: Save Your Gmail Data is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

If you have a large hard disk installed in your computer, you can split it up and create small partitions. This can be handy for backing up your data safely from the system drive where Windows is installed. The key advantage to this is, when you are reinstalling Windows, you can just reinstall on the system drive. Although I still strongly recommend you do a thorough backup of your data, partitioning also allows you to simply backup just the data drive.

Lets take a look at how to create a simple partition in Windows 7:

Click Start, right click Computer then click Manage

Expand Storage then click Disk Management

Select System Drive, where Windows 7 is installed, usually labeled C:

Right click it and click Shrink Volume

Preparing to Shrink the hard disk

When the Shrink dialog appears on screen, click in the Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB field. As you can see, the default recommendation is 9,690 MBs which is 9.6 GBs. I want something a little smaller, so I will enter 3690 which is 3.6 GBs. Depending on the size of your drive you can choose a different size. After entering the amount, click Shrink the button

The partition we just created will now appear as Unallocated. We need to prepare it for use.

Right click it and click New Simple Volume…

This will start the new simple volume wizard. Click Next

If you want, you can further reduce the size of the partition you just created and create an even smaller partition. Click Next

Here you can assign an available drive letter. Click Next

Click Next to Format the volume, all the defaults necessary have already been selected.

A summary of the changes that will be made, if you want to make a change, click Back, if you are satisfied, go ahead and click Finish

The volume will now be formatted and assigned a drive letter.

If you click Start > Computer, you will see the drive listed in the Computer Explorer

You can browse it and copy files to and from it just like any normal volume. If you want, you can go back to Disk Management, and create even smaller partitions from it using the same instructions.

How to Create a Simple Partition in Windows 7 (Quick Tip) is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.