Accidents happen. Whether it’s spilling coffee on your computer, accidentally deleting an important file, or something worse, it’s important to take regular backups of your computer to ensure your data is safe. Most backup services securely encrypt and then send files on your computer to the cloud, where a second copy is kept with a provider of your choosing. This process generally happens in the background once you install specific software, so there’s often nothing you need to do aside from picking a provider and installing their app on your computer.

Provost IT-supported users all have access to a U: and G: drive to store files safely off of their computer. Both of these network drives are backed up automatically and frequently, so you don’t need to worry about this process. It’s important to use these drives and not store anything on your actual desktop computer or laptop, per Provost IT’s local file storage guidelines.

For personal devices and computers, consider a service such as Crashplan or Carbonite. For as little as a few dollars per month, each service will automatically backup your important files to an offsite location. By doing this, anytime something happens to your computer or your data, getting files back is as simple as downloading them back from the service you choose.