Recently, there’s been a spate of viruses out there in internetland. Granted, these happen all the time, but to have it happen twice in 24 hours to people I know?

I start to worry. And when I worry, I gnaw on things. And when I gnaw on things – well, Carrie’s not a happy camper.

So, I’m here to show you a lovely backup system for your documents. This doesn’t have to be just for your manuscript – although it’s perfect for that – but can be for pictures, important files, etc.

First, if you haven’t already, please read through my backup post.For those of you on wordpress, this is a great way to back up your posts, images and all content.

And here’s a second post on how to back up your hard drive . I’m very thorough.

And finally, I’m going to suggest a program called Dropbox. I have it, Carrie has it, a bunch of our friends have it.

What is it?

It’s cloud storage. Eh? You say. Let me explain.

I have a document on my computer, called Perfect Manuscript. I store it in my Dropbox folder on my computer. It’s automatically shot off “into the cloud” – which actually means the monster big servers at Google. Now I install Dropbox on my laptop. When I open my Dropbox folder, what should I see but my Perfect Manuscript file. Cool! So, I make a few changes to it, save it and carry on my merry way. Tomorrow, I get back on my regular computer, and there’s my Perfect Manuscript file – updated. Slick!

I currently run Dropbox on all 3 of my computers. Not only does it allow me to share my file across all computers, it lets me update on any computer, and get the update virtually simultaneously on the other two. I can upload pictures and find them on my laptop in minutes. Simple pimple. Further, if my computer goes down to a virus, my documents are backed up – in the cloud. Safe and sound.

If you’re looking to try out Dropbox, feel free to use this link – http://db.tt/jYOkSr4w. I’ll get referral credits, so I can upload more pictures of the log jam I’ve been working on. =)

Be creative in your writing, but be sure and steady when backing it up.

Carrie Spencer Author - Smart Ass Romance

How many times have you heard someone say “backup backup backup”? If you work in a garage, probably lots. If you work on a computer, chances are you’ve seen it, you’ve thought it was a swell idea, but you never really got around to it.

Until….
(insert jaws theme here)

You lost your hard drive. You got a virus. You upgrade to a new computer.

Suddenly, everything you’ve worked so hard for is gone. Alllllllllll gone.

Or is it?

First of all, I’ll mention my DH. Brilliant with computers, hates them with a passion. But he can usually, almost always, save your “stuff”. Once we put a woman’s laptop in our freezer, and after 6 hours saved her 8 years of book keeping that had never been backed up. Once we put a woman’s hard drive in our freezer, then set it on a heating pad while sucking off the info. We’ve used hammers, pliers, software, expensive software etc. to save this all-important if-i-lose-it-i’ll-just-die information for people.

Hello???? Just back it up! For Pete’s sakes! If it’s that important that you’re going to a> lose the farm b> lose 8 years worth of work c> cry hysterically THEN JUST BACK IT UP!

And this goes for you writers too! I know you’re shaking your heads…wow, how could some lady not back up her business for EIGHT years? so answer me this, when was the last time you backed up all of your stories?

*tapping my foot and humming a happy tune*

c’mon…you can tell me…..last month? two months ago? what if tomorrow you turned on the ‘puter and it said GAME OVER…? would you be calling your computer tech and crying and beating your chest?

oh yeah…i know…some of you are even now surreptitiously backing up your files and saying who??? me??? i always back up…snort!

The point being, you can lose WEEKS worth of work, just because you don’t back-up. Go out tomorrow, to wal-mart, staples, wherever….get one of those 250GB+ back up hard drives, plug it in to your USB and back up back up back up.

You’ll thank me for it someday. Honest.

carrie

Carrie Spencer Author - Smart Ass Romance