List of what you must backup:
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LOGINS, ALL passwords, FTP access codes, banking details, etc. Where do you currently keep this info? Please don't tell me it's in a little book on your desk ... oh so easy to get lost, to get put in someone else's pocket, to go walk-about. You should have a password-protected spreadsheet or document, or even better - a password-protected database. I have a database which I open as soon as I create a new login, or add myself to a mailing list, or join a new news group etc - paste the info in *as* you create it, to ensure you'll *never* forget it. Sure, you sometimes get confirmation emails with this data ... but if your computer has *died* ... get the picture? You can't access the emails!
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CLIENT documents / projects / websites (if you're a developer), in fact ANYTHING which could cause grief if you lost it or didn't have a copy of it. If you've printed a lot of this stuff, what would you need if you had a *fire* and lost all your paper files? Think about that. Hard. Now make a list and maybe have a backup CD for each Client or group of clients, depending on your business.
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EMAIL software folder which should include ALL your emails. You do *keep* all emails don't you? Please tell me you're not one of those people who deletes emails as soon as you read them (business ones I mean). Have you ever considered that emails are a form of *database*? I can search my Eudora software for any word or phrase and in a nanosecond I have a list of emails relating to that item (all neatly filed in their email folders ... but that's *another* article!). I *love* Eudora's features! Getting back to business, emails with historical information on projects are invaluable to see who said what and when they said it. It's a timeline, tracking resource, for a project's life.
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PHOTOS, personal, professional - unless you're using them all the time, these can be kept on CDs on a regular basis. When you download from the digital camera, save to cd straight away and save space on your hard drive [note to "self" : follow own suggestion]. If you have photos related to a project or client, save them to the Client cd you created earlier, if there's space.
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SONGS. Music of your life.
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FINANCIALS. All your spreadsheets, MYOB or whatever other software you use to track financials. Every document which the tax department might one day want to see ... for the past 7 years. Business plans, budgets, everything relating to your business which you'll need to continue to *be* in business.
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FAXES - do you use online faxing like I do? Where every incoming fax comes into my inbox as an email? From now on, whenever one arrives, put it into a folder called FAXES or save with your client data. Faxes are also a record of what's transpired - another form of database. Plus if you use this kind of fax service, you're saving trees.
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INSURANCE. Keep quotes etc on your computer.
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DATABASES - all of them. A must. Trust me, you'll kick yourself if you need one of these you didn't bother backing up.
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COMPUTER DESKTOP. OK - what's still sitting on your desktop which hasn't be put away or filed yet? Probably a bunch of stuff - clear this up before you backup, make your job that little bit easier.
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EXCEPTION to the SOFTWARE RULE above - if you've bought any software online, or downloaded any software or programs of any kind for which you did not receive a CD, then back it up. If you've still got the Installer file, save that - it'll save time.
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BROWSER Settings - go through your browser Preferences screens, take snapshots (like print screen) of those settings - it'll save you a TON of time if you have to set up your email and ISP settings at a later date.
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PDFs : have you downloaded any PDFs or purchased any ebook? Are they all in the same download folder, or in a PDF or eBook folder? You'll want to save these.
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SAVED GAMES. some games you want to play again,include screenshots of your favourite moment.