It's nearly Halloween, but there's something even more frightening to consider than ghosts and goblins: Data Loss. It happens in an instant - from natural disasters, computer viruses, hackers, human error, or one of countless other ways. According to a recent Harris/Symantec Data survey, 43 percent of computer owners surveyed don't back up - ever - despite the fact that 24 percent admitted to losing data from a computer crash over the past six months. This issue of What Works is devoted to all things backup -- including an overview of computer backup methods, data backup software, battery backups, backup for Mac and how to recover data from a damaged computer.

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Fight Power Failures
Guide to Battery Backups
By Judy Artunian
If you’ve ever experienced a power failure that abruptly shut down the equipment that keeps your business humming, you know why you need battery backups. With an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in place, your computers and other equipment can run long enough for you to save important files and shutdown devices correctly. A UPS will also keep your equipment from being damaged during brown-outs. Here's how to get what you need: Read Full Guide

Backup Overview
Backing up Your Computer Files
By Daniel Kehrer
Everyone knows that backing up computer files is important. But a lack of information or belief that backups are too costly or time consuming often causes business owners to put it off. And that can be disastrous. Lost computer files have cost many businesses weeks, months or even years of work.
Data can disappear for many reasons. Hardware can fail, be damaged or stolen. Files can be accidentally deleted or computer viruses can make them vanish. Here's how to protect yourself: Read Full Guide

Protect Your Data
Guide to Data Backup Software
By Rose Bricker
Backup software can help protect one of the most important assets a business has -- its data. Power surges and mistakes happen all the time, plus computers, even new computers, crash regularly. There are many types of data backup software and some good options are even free. You can also use remote data backup software and offsite backup software if you want to protect your data even more...Read Full Guide

Getting it Back
Recovering Data from a Damaged Computer
By John Henshell
If you experience a computer crash or serious malfunction, your information isn't necessarily lost. There are several methods you can use to try and recover your data. There are no guarantees, and the amount of data that can be recovered depends on the extent of the damage. But many data salvage operations are highly successful. And even if the first recovery service you contact isn't optimistic, keep trying. You might find one with a track record of dealing with your special problem. Here's what you need to know: Read Full Guide

Backup for Mac
Guide to the Mac Backup and Restore Center
By Micah Brown
Using Time Machine, the Apple backup and restore center in OS X 10.5, is one of the easiest and fastest ways to keep your data safe. Once it's setup, there's not much more to do unless the unthinkable happens and your computer's hard drive fails. Then, like magic, the Apple backup software kicks in and restores your computer onto the new drive. When you're selecting backup options, consider what the Macintosh backup & restore center can do for your business... Read Full Guide