Please help? Computers confuse me very much.

[Jamie McCrimmon]

I need to back up my files, I don't really know what this means or how to do it. Please can anybody give me any advice? Thankyou

[Si Hunt]

Backing up just means taking a copy of them in case the originals accidentally get deleted or corrupted by a virus - it's a good idea.

How much stuff have you got that needs backing up? Highlight all the folders or files containing stuff you wouldn't want to lose and right click Properties.

Depending on how much it is, backing up can be as simple as copying them to a CD or even a memory stick. These are cheap from PC World or other such shops and don't even need much installing.

There are also programs which will help you back up your files by compressing them to make the process quicker and more efficient.

Si.

[Lissa]

Morning m'dear.

Backing up just means making a second copy of things so you're protected if your originals are deleted. Many is the family holiday or great unpublished novel that has been erased from history by a computer going wrong.

If your computer has a CD or DVD writer drive then the easiest way to back up is to put a blank disc in the drive and then copy & paste the files you want to keep. Windows should help you with this.

Alternatively - and preferably - save them to an external drive. Depending on how many files you want to back up this can either be a USB pen drive or an external hard drive. The former starts from £4 for a 1 gigabyte drive at Play.com. If you need more space they have 2 Gb for £4.50 or 4 Gb for £6. External hard drives are more expensive (starting from around £60) for several hundred gigabytes.

You simply plug a USB drive into a USB socket on your computer and copy & paste files onto it.

If you want to back files up regularly then you could try Sync Toy which is free and easy to use. You just identify a folder and it does the rest.

[Jamie McCrimmon]

Thankyou very much, both of you. I know what to do now. Sorry for putting the question in the wrong place!

[Tom Simpson]

Aha, thanks for reminding me... been meaning to back everything up for *ages*, but I really can't be arsed at the moment, probably later.