Quake Checklist: Family, Dog, Data

The recent Southern California earthquake and aftershocks are yet another reminder of how vulnerable we are. In a disaster, people and pets are your first priority. But if you have time to rescue property, don’t forget your data. Your computer and software can be replaced. Your data may be priceless.

It doesn’t take a quake, fire, flood or hurricane to destroy data. It can happen because of a computer glitch, a human error or theft. I’d hate to face the IRS or even my banker without my financial files. And my publisher would be very upset if I lost that manuscript I’ve been slaving over for more than a year.

If you aren’t already backing up your files, let this be your wake-up call. Back up regularly and be sure to store copies of your important files at some location other than where you have your personal computer. Any disaster that destroys your PC is just as likely to wipe out any backup disks or tapes stored in the same office--even in the same building.

Backing up may be easier than you think. It’s not absolutely necessary to back up all your software, although it’s a good idea to keep copies of your installation diskettes in a safe place. The worst case is that you have to replace your software--possibly at your insurance company’s expense. But you can’t replace your data.

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You don’t even need special software to back up. Every time you create or modify an important file, you can just copy it to a floppy disk and store that disk away from your premises. MS-DOS 6.0 and 6.2 come with programs that make it easier to back up files. Mac users can purchase a commercial backup program such as Norton Utilities, Retrospect or Magnet. MS-DOS backup and commercial backup programs compress your files as they’re copied, saving you time and floppy disks.

Floppies are fine if you need to store only a few files, but you’re much better off with a tape backup system such as Jumbo 250 from Colorado Memory Systems. The drive itself has a suggested retail price of $199. Backup tapes, which store 250 megabytes, cost about $20.

The tape drive fits into a floppy disk drive bay and doesn’t need an adapter card. It connects to the floppy drive controller. If that’s too much trouble, Colorado Memory also makes the Trakker tape system, which plugs into the parallel port of any PC. It is simple to install and it’s portable, so you can move it around to back up other machines. It’s an ideal investment for small businesses and departments to regularly back up all their machines.

If you have more than 250 megabytes of data, you can back up two or more tapes. Or you can back up data files only. That’s what I do, because I already have backup copies of my software.

To simplify the process, I store all my important data files in a single directory, on my hard disk. That directory, which I named “data,” is further divided into sub-directories. My financial data is located in C: data finance, my newspaper articles in C: data articles, and each of my book projects has its own sub-directory. This way, I can back up all my data in one step by backing that single directory and its sub-directories.

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Macintosh owners can use a similar strategy, only the data compartments are called folders instead of directories. Inexpensive tape backup systems for the Macintosh are hard to find. The most popular backup strategy uses a Syquest removable hard disk cartridge that stores about 105 megabytes of data. Drives from Peripheral Land ((800) 288-8754) and other companies start at about $400. Cartridges cost about $75 each.

I keep a copy of the tape at a friend’s house. Commuters can keep their home PC’s tapes at work and vice versa.

I take extra precautions with my financial records. I use electronic mail to regularly send copies of my Quicken data files to an out-of-town friend. Once a week or so, I use the PKZIP compression program (available as shareware from all on-line services and bulletin boards) to compress a year’s worth of financial files into a 190-kilobyte file. Then I use CompuServe, America Online or Prodigy to transmit the file to my friend’s PC. He stores it at his house and, if something should happen to my data, he’ll mail it back to me.

PKZIP allows you to add a password to a file to assure privacy. The process takes just seconds, is very easy and costs less than a dollar for the e-mail charges. I’ve never had to retrieve the file, but I do feel a lot more comfortable knowing that my records are safe.

Mac users can employ a similar strategy using Stuffit, a shareware compression program for the Macintosh.