The Conversation Nobody Wants to Have
There's one conversation I have at the shop that I genuinely dread. It's when someone walks in with a laptop or a hard drive, tells me it's stopped working, and then asks if we can get their photos back. Their kids' baby photos. Their late parent's documents. Years of family memories stored on one device with no backup anywhere.
Sometimes we can recover the data. Sometimes we can't. And I can tell you from years of experience here in Letchworth - the look on someone's face when they find out their files are gone for good is something I never want to see.
This post is about making sure that never happens to you.
Hard Drives Fail. All of Them.
This isn't scaremongering - it's a fact of engineering. Every hard drive ever made will eventually fail. Traditional spinning hard drives have a mechanical lifespan, and SSDs have a finite number of write cycles. The average lifespan of a hard drive is about 3-5 years, though some last longer and some fail much sooner.
The problem is that most people treat their computer's hard drive like a filing cabinet - they put things in and assume they'll always be there. But a filing cabinet doesn't have moving parts spinning at 7200 RPM, and it doesn't depend on a circuit board to function.
I've had customers from Stevenage, Hitchin, and right here in Letchworth who lost everything because they assumed their hard drive would last forever. It won't. Plan for that.
What You Lose When a Drive Fails
Think about what's actually on your computer right now:
- Family photos and videos
- Work documents and spreadsheets
- Tax records and financial files
- Email archives
- Music collections
- Passwords stored in browsers
- University coursework or school projects
- Business records and invoices
Most of this can't be recreated. You can buy a new computer, but you can't buy back your memories or rebuild years of work.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule
There's a principle in data protection called the 3-2-1 rule, and it's the gold standard for keeping your files safe:
- 3 copies of your data (the original plus two backups)
- 2 different types of storage (e.g., your computer and an external drive)
- 1 copy stored offsite (e.g., in the cloud)
Now, I know what you're thinking - that sounds like a lot of hassle. But it doesn't have to be. Here are the practical options.
Option 1: External Hard Drive
This is the simplest and most affordable option. Buy an external USB hard drive - a 1TB or 2TB drive is very affordable these days - and copy your important files to it regularly. Better yet, use Windows Backup or a free tool like Macrium Reflect to create automatic backups on a schedule.
Pros: Cheap, fast, simple, no internet needed.
Cons: Only protects you if you remember to do it. If the external drive is sitting next to your computer and your house floods or there's a fire, you lose both.
Option 2: Cloud Backup
Services like OneDrive (built into Windows), Google Drive, or Dropbox let you store files online so they're accessible from anywhere. Microsoft 365 gives you 1TB of OneDrive storage, which is plenty for most people's documents and photos.
Pros: Automatic, offsite, accessible from any device.
Cons: Requires internet, can be slow for very large amounts of data, ongoing subscription cost for larger storage.
Option 3: Both (The Smart Choice)
The ideal setup - and the one I recommend to every customer - is to use both. Keep an external drive for fast local backups and use a cloud service for the really important stuff. That way, if your computer dies you've got the external drive. If your house burns down, you've got the cloud. If both somehow fail simultaneously, you've had spectacularly bad luck and I'm genuinely sorry.
Set It Up Once and Forget About It
The key to a good backup strategy is automation. If you have to remember to do it manually, you won't do it. I know this because I've met hundreds of people who meant to back up their files "next week" and next week never came.
Windows has built-in backup tools that can run automatically. OneDrive can sync your Documents and Desktop folders continuously. An external drive connected to your PC can receive automatic nightly backups. Set it up once, check it occasionally, and forget about it.
If you're not sure how to set this up, we can do it for you. Our data services include backup configuration as well as data recovery for when things have already gone wrong.
Don't Wait for the Disaster
I'm writing this because I'd rather help people prevent data loss than try to recover files from a dead drive. Prevention is easier, cheaper, and far less stressful.
If you're in Letchworth, Hitchin, Stevenage, or anywhere in North Hertfordshire and you want help setting up a proper backup system - or if the worst has already happened and you need data recovery - come and see us at 2 The Wynd or get in touch. We'll sort you out.
Back up your files today. Not tomorrow. Today.