It is a good habit to regularly backup your data. It can save you from a lot of difficulties in case your hard disc were to suddenly crash. If not more, at least you must backup your data files such as your documents, spreadsheets, accounts files, photos, videos, music files and other useful data files. Generally speaking, it may not be necessary for you to backup your installable software as you can install it again if necessary from the original / backed-up software CDs / DVDs. However, you cannot install your data files again if your hard disc were to crash as there is no backup available unless you prepare the backup yourself on a regular basis.
Normally, you data files are stored in the following folders:
Moreover, you may have several other user-defined folders which may be containing your data files of different type. These may be located under your My Documents folder or directly under “C” drive or other folders. You should make a list of all the folders on your computer that contain your data files which you may need at some point of time in future. These are the files and folders which must be part of your regular backup plan.
Ideally you should try to back up your data on a daily basis since a hard disc crash or some other trouble with your computer won’t occur with a prior notice. Such problems occur uninvited and without notice and at a time when you least expect them. However, if you have the habit of regularly backing up your precious data, then you can still continue with your work, more or less unaffected, inspite of a hard disc crash or other serious problem with your computer.
Moreover, it is strongly advisable that your backup should be on a device kept away from your computer. Backing up your data files on the same computer would not be of much help. If you are taking your backup in an external drive or USB flash drive or on CDs / DVDs, then it is advisable to keep these devices away from your computer in some safe place. Backing up your data online on some distant server is also a good solution in view of the fact that bandwidth is not a big problem these days.
Your data files can be backed up basically by either of the following two methods:
(1) Fully manual method:
Here, you manually select which files or folders have to be backed up and where. Moreover, you can compress your files by using compression software (see, 12 Free open-source File Compression Utilities) while backing them up. Now, you can manually back up your files without using the services of a backup software. This method will be useful if you have a limited number of files to be backed up and you don’t modify those files on a regular basis.
(2) Use a backup software:
In this method, you use a backup software to backup your selected files and folders. Or else, you can also backup your whole computer. Moreover, the backup can be a fully-automated system with the help of a software or you can manually update your backup from time to time through the backup software.
Many of the backup software available today will identify which files have been created or modified since the previous backup, and accordingly they will update your backup only by backing up the incremental data and not backing up everything afresh. This way, a backup software can be of good help if you regularly modify or create new data files.
Which backup software is good for my backup?
You have the option to use commercial backup software or to use some good-quality free and open-source backup software. I’ll be discussing about only the free backup software here.
(A) Areca Backup:
Areca Backup is a free and open-source backup software, available under GPL license. It allows you to select a set of files / folders to back-up. You can select where and how (i.e., as a simple file copy or as a zip archive, etc.) these files / folders will be 
stored in the backup. It has a simple graphical user interface. Areca is quite versatile and can use advanced backup modes such as the “delta backup” or simply produce a “basic copy” of your files as a standard directory or zip archive which can be opened using WinZip, 7-Zip or other similar archive software. Areca also makes it easy to track different versions of a specific file in the backup, browse your archives, recover or view specific files, merge a set of archives, etc.
Areca Backup allows you to store the backup on any of the following: your local hard drive, network drive, USB key, FTP / FTPs server (with implicit and explicit SSL / TLS). It allows incremental, differential and full backup, as per your choice. In order to save storage space, it also allows you to merge contiguous archives into one single archive to save storage space. It supports recovery of your archives or single files as of a specific date. All critical processes in Areca, such as backups or merging of backups, are transactional which guarantees your backups’ integrity.
(B) BackupPC:
BackupPC is a free and open-source backup software suite with a web-based front-end which is highly configurable and easy to install and maintain. It is a high-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up Linux and Windows based computers to a server’s disk. BackupPC can back up a large number of machines onto a server’s local disk or network storage. It is more useful for large-scale backup operations.
(C) Snap Backup:
You can also try Snap Backup for backing up your data files. It is another free open-source 100% Java program that makes it simple to protect your important work. Snap Backup is for individual computer users who need a simple and convenient way to backup their valuable files. It is easy to operate and has configurable settings. It can run on most platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris.
Snap Backup allows you to configure where your data files reside and where to create and store backup files such as on a USB flash drive or on an external hard drive. It automatically puts the current date in the backup file name. The backup file is a single compressed file that can be read by most compression software such as 7-Zip.
(D) Macrium Reflect Free Edition:
Though it is a commercial backup software, you can download its free edition from download.com site for backing up your data.
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U done a good job n provide good information to all of us i m very thankful to u for providing us this facility.