The most important part of your PC is your data. These are the files you have collected of created yourself - your projects, pictures, accounts, e-mails etc. In the event of a serious system crash or malware infection, you can usually restore the operating system and programs that you use however your personal data may be irreplaceable. Although emergency data recovery options are available, these tend to be expensive and without guarantee that everything you want can be restored. A safe approach and good practice is to start a regular routine of backing up your important data.

Your data should be backed up as often as possible, ideally after every use. It isn't necessary to back up your whole hard drive. Identify the folders that hold your important data or folders that have files that you have changed and only back those folders / files up. To find out where your files are being stored, use "Save As" instead of just hitting "Save" when you create or update your files, and note the location the program is using to write your data. Add that folder to your backup list.

There are dozens of programs available to help you to make backups. They vary in price but most have the same basic features - you create a list of the files and folders you want to back up and decide whether you want to save the registry entries. You can either backup your files and folders straight away or set the program to perform the backup automatically later. A basic but useable backup program comes with all Windows operating systems. You can find the Microsoft Backup Utility in the Start menu under Accessories > System Tools.

There are three major variations to a backup - Full, Incremental and Differential. In a full backup, everything on your backup list is backed up each and every time. Once a full backup has been made, you can choose to make an incremental backup in which only those files on your list that have changed since the last full or incremental backup will be backed up. To restore from a backup, you apply the full backup and every incremental backup since the full. With the differential backup, all files since the full are stored. Unlike the incremental backup, you typically have to restore only the full and the last differential backup.

By the way there's nothing wrong with simply copying your important documents and files directly to disk using explorer or CD/DVD burning software.

This may sound like common sense advice, however, never store your backups on your main hard drive. If you do and your hard drive fails, your backup files will be lost along with everything else. Ideally, backups of your most important data should not be stored in the same room or even on the same site as the original.

Some common back up options include:

• CD’s & DVD’s 
• Mini USB drive’s 
• External Hard Drive’s
• Online Data Backup

With the increasing popularity of fast internet connections, backup of data to an external location on the internet maybe a viable solution. One possible advantage to using this solution is that your backups can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet. This may be useful if you are on the move a lot and want access to your data on different computers or platforms.