If you have ever questioned the importance of doing a backup consider these scenarios: a virus destroys all of the content on your hard drive or you accidentally hit delete instead of end. Humans will eventually make a mistake and hardware will fail at some point in time. That's why it is so important that you know how to backup your hard drive.

Start by determining the files that are important to you; files you couldn't recreate or those that you wouldn't want to recreate if someone paid you. There is no need to waste time and space backing up the actual program files. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, you may have saved all the original software disks in that neat organizer you bought sitting next to your PC. Second, some backups don't work because the backup program can't read hidden files and thus they are not backed up. Hidden files are usually required for the program to function.

How often you do a full backup will depend on the frequency your data changes, and perhaps even the time you have available. Incremental backups are quick to do; perfect for someone pressed for time and who has not bought an automated solution yet.

However, you need to know that restoring is a very slow process because you have to first install your full backup and then "every" incremental backup thereafter. More than likely when you are missing an incremental backup you will not be able to proceed. So be sure to keep track of all your backup disks and tapes or else you will have a problem.

Also be aware that treating the backup correctly is important. Keep the disks or tapes away from extreme temperatures and magnets and you should be fine. Having a disk with corrupted data can be more frustrating and time consuming than not having the disk at all.

A common suggestion is to do a full backup once a week and incremental backups during the week. If your data doesn't change much you could do a full backup once a month and an incremental once a week.

There are different types of backup media that you can use. CD's and DVD's are affordable and allow you to use drag and drop; however, they are limited in space so you may have to break your data into segments on more than one CD.

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