Businesses require both security and data backup to run efficently and productively. Many business owners want to save money and scrimp on data backup protection then get stuck with lost data and valuable time. Here's a case in point that happened within the last two weeks before the holidays last year.

I’ll simply call them client A. Client A runs a business that survives on shipping their product out through UPS. When we first met back in the early spring it was to fix the shipping computer. He had installed an anti-virus program and it wiped out his e-mail in box.

This is a known bug with MaCAFEE anti-virus and it was a matter of a simple file recovery. In the process of fixing that problem we found other problems and the system was acting very un-stable and nothing was backed up. At that point and several others through the year I tried to encourage him to back up his important records.

Well guess what, he never did and a week before the holiday it crashed. Suddenly he couldn’t access UPS, couldn’t access his mailing lists and postage. Essentially he was out of business with a warehouse full of employees sitting around. Now he is losing thousands of dollars a day because he was trying to save a few hundred and put off getting a back-up device, the business owner went into shear panic and called us.

Now just as suddenly he tried to put the responsibility of saving his business on us, if we couldn’t recover his data he was out of business. I wouldn’t accept that responsibility. We will do our very best, we will do everything possible to fix the situation but if the data was lost it was his fault for not backing it up. People, things happen, so if it is the least bit important … BACK IT UP.

Fortunately, we were able to save about 90% of his data and get him running but it took 3 days and cost him thousands. Did he get a back-up device, not yet. This is the one single problem we run into and it comes in many forms. "My inbox became corrupted and all my e-mails are gone, can you recover them"? Were they backed up, no. Address books, family photos, your accounting records, what ever it may be, if it is the least bit important, BACK IT UP. If you are a business and your data is mission critical, BACK IT UP.

If it is a bad crash and we have to send it out for professional data recovery, I've seen bills as high as $12 thousand dollars. Data recovery can become expensive, not to mention the down time involved. So make sure to purchase a backup device that automatically backs up your important data every day. If you need data recovery, visit Computer Guys Live online for affordable recovery services.

Copyright 2006 Computer Guys Live Inc.

About The Author
Chris Kaminski has been working in computer repair and web development for the last 20 years. Kaminski is CEO and head technician for Computerguyslive.com, an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. Visit http://www.computerguyslive.com for affordable data backup services. Or call a live tech now at 866-300-8181.