A real life lesson in backing up your files

If you've been thinking, "I should back up my files in case my computer crashes." Do it today! There is no time to waste! My husband, Lane Lauritsen is a very smart man and he has always suggested I back up my files, but for some reason, I always had something more important to do. Or I would think to myself, my "indestructible" Mac is so new and I am so busy, this can wait. I had a similar conversation with Paul Sherland, who is a Mac owner like me, back in April. He recently lost his hard drive and recommended that I back up my files. He mentioned that in his case (and in many similar cases), the Apple store technicians were not able to retrieve any files and going to a specialist, like Drivesavers can cost a small fortune. According to an article in the NYTimes, "recovery costs at DriveSavers range from $500 for the slowest service - five to seven days - and fewest recoverable files, to $8,900 for a rush job, which will begin the moment the drive arrives and continue around the clock until the data has been extracted." YIKES!

After researching the various online backup solutions, I recently started using Mozy Pro, and today I'm very thankful that I did. My 6 month old MacBook Pro crashed on Saturday, leaving me stranded. I tried all the DIY fixes recommended by Apple and any other site I could find, but with no luck. So, I made an appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple store. After a short period of time, they were able to tell me my hard drive was dead and they couldn't retrieve any data. This left me feeling quite anxious!! I knew I had set up Mozy Pro and had an automatic backup, to but had never had to rely the probability of it actually working. For every last detail of my life, including years of photos and all my business data, was at the mercy of my online backup.

But thankfully, this story ends happily. Although it took about 30 hours of downloading and a few phone calls to Mozy, I was able to restore my hard drive and my life.

If I can stress one thing to you, there is NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT. Get your hard drive backed up today!