It is also much quicker to restore large files (or large quantities of files) from a hard drive attached to a computer with a cable, than to download everything from a cloud-based backup service.

But what if you decide to shift from one of these services, or if a service is bought, goes out of business, or is the victim of a hack? In those situations having a personal backup is a safer bet. With series like iCloud and DropBox, there is less need than ever to worry about creating physical backups of files. Genie Timeline, CrashPlan and Veeam are popular options to consider if you are a Windows 10 user. Mac users can plug in any large external drive and use it with Apple's own Time Machine software, while Windows users can set up Windows File History, or pick from a range of third-party backup services. At their simplest, these devices are used to make a copy of everything created and saved on a computer, whether it be written documents, presentations, images, videos, or anything else. And while photos and messages from our smartphones are regularly backed up to the cloud, making a physical backup is still highly recommended, especially for professionals working with digital files.īefore thinking all backup drives are broadly the same, note that there is a wide range of options to consider, each with different features, designs and prices. As anyone who has lost important files to a corrupted hard drive will attest, creating backups is a crucial part of modern computing.

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