The Costco Connection - March/April 2008

TECHconnection

To purge and protect

How and why to back up your important PC files

COMPUTER USERS MIGHT differ on a few back up your address boo k, such as the one in things—such as which operating system is best Microsoft Outlook, by clicking “File,” then or whether you should go with a laptop or a desk- “Import/Export.” top—but one thing nearly everyone agrees on is ■ Calendar appointments. While likely the importance of backing up key files on a notasimportantasyourcontacts,yourcal-regular basis. endar—which is probably electronic these

By Marc Saltzman

After all, many people know that sinking feeling days instead of paper—would also be dif-when you realize something very important was ficult, if not impossible, to replace. In accidentally deleted from your computer. Or per- Microsoft Outlook, click “File,” then haps your entire hard drive has become damaged “Import/Export.” and unusable due to, say, a nasty virus or a serious ■ Work files, such as documents, power surge. And thousands of laptops in this coun- spreadsheets and presentations. Just in try are lost or stolen on a regular basis. case you ever need it in the future, per-

In a flash, your entire digital life—irreplaceable haps for legal reasons, it’s also a good idea family photos and camcorder footage, important to back up every e-mail you’ve ever received documents or your valued music collection—could and sent, and do it every month or so. be gone forever. ■ Miscellaneous files. Web site book-Some PC users prefer to back up files on one of marks, passwords, digital notes, downloaded those small USB thumb drives, but you might not music, favourite podcasts and audio books, be able to fit everything on one (currently, 8 giga- and so forth—in other words, whatever is important ^Marc ^Saltzman^, ^a ^leadingbytes is the maximum capacity). You can burn a to you, personally or professionally—should be ^high-tech ^reporter, ^contrib-

JOHN HRYNIUK

DVD, but this can take a long time and discs are backed up regularly. ^utes ^to ^more ^than ^threesusceptible to scratching. Online backup services are ^dozen ^prominent ^{publications,}convenient but often come with a monthly storage Q: I’ve been reading about up-converting ^appears ^on ^radio ^and ^TV,subscription fee. DVD players. Are they worth buying?” ^and ^is ^the ^author ^of ¹³ ^books.

External hard drives are a popular choice as they
can store up to 1 terabyte of data (about 1,000 giga- A: Yes! While they don’t look as good as a true high- _bytes!). _They’re _easy _to _use—just _plug _one _into _your _definition _movie _{player—such} _as _Blu-ray _or _{HD laptop’s} _or _desktop’s _USB _port _(as _opposed _to _{inter- DVD—you} _can _really _make _your _DVDs _shine _on _Ask_Marcnal drives that require you to open the tower and your new HDTV by purchasing an inexpensive “up- _connect _it)—and _some _can _{automatically} _back _up _converting” _DVD _player.Saltzman
selected files or folders at a specified time daily or With the right cables, such as the preferred _Question _for _Marc?weekly. Another handy feature is the ability to access HDMI cord that handles both audio and video, your _Send _your _technology _anddata on the external drive of multiple computers— movies can be presented in up to 1,080 lines of reso- _computer _questions _to:even outside the home, via the Internet. lution (1080i) instead of the regular 480 lines found
on most DVD players. Component cables (the red, ^Q ^& ^A ^with ^Marc ^Saltzman

So, what to back up? blue and green ones) will also do the trick. ^The ^Costco ^Connection

Deciding what to back up is as easy as asking There is some debate, however, on whether you ⁴¹⁵ ^West ^Hunt ^Club ^Roadyourself what is irreplaceable. Most PC users, how- really need an up-converting DVD player to essen- ^Ottawa, ^ON ^K2E ^1C5

ever, will likely find the following info important tially double a movie’s resolution, as HDTVs natively ^Or ^fax ^to ^{613-221-2283,}enough to back up. up-convert an incoming signal up to 1,080 lines any- ^or ^e-mail ^to

■ Digital photos and camcorder footage. Be way—but because some televisions handle this up- ^{connection@costco.com}sure to occasionally back up your irreplaceable conversion better than others, the best way to ensure photo and video files onto an external hard drive. In optimum performance is to pick up an up-convert-case of fire, it’s also a good idea to burn a DVD of ing DVD player. C these memories to keep outside your home, such as at a relative’s house or in a safety deposit box.

■ Contact info for all of your friends, family and work associates. This includes phone numbers, The Costco Connection e-mail addresses and other relevant notes. The good Costco carries a wide variety of external hard news is that a lot of this info may already be backed drives. Costco also carries up-converting DVD up if you sync devices, such as a cell phone, PDA, players. Members can also find these items at BlackBerry or iPod, with your PC. You can manually www.costco.ca.

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