1.  Do something. Do anything to backup.  Just do it.  Eventually, the value of your data far exceeds the value of your computer.  Do something to make a second copy of your valuable data.

2.  You can just backup data.  Some people think they need to backup their entire computer.  If an unforseen incident happens, like an elephant steps on your computer, and you have a complete backup, there is no easy way to get that onto a new computer.   The best sinero is to put a new computer in place, install all the important programs you are using, and then restore the data from your backup.

3.  What is your data?  Data is what you add to your computer.  It could be word processing documents that you type in, spreadsheets, pictures, digital videos, digital music.  The most important data is the items that you have created.

4.  Where is your data?  Most "well behaved" programs tend to put their data in the folder My Documents.  Microsoft Office with Word and Excel do this.   Also, programs that add pictures to My Pictures that is a sub folder of  My Documents, places data in a good place for you to find and later backup  But some programs take a detective to find out where the data is stored:  Quicken puts its data by default in C:\Program Files\Intuit\Quicken\Qdata.qdf

5.  What is the size of the backup?  Once you have determined what you are going to save, add up the current size.  If you can't estimate what this will grow to in the future, then simply double or tripple the current size.  For example, if My Documents is currently 1.5gb and Quicken Data is .5gb then a media to backup might be 4gb to 6gb.

6.  What types of backup are available?

The most ecconomical backup is on a CD-Writer or Burner.  A typical CD-RW blank costs about $1 each.  And if you don't have a CD-Writer drive, that would be about $55.  A CD-RW holds about 0.6gb of data.  The only downside is that CD-Writers are the slowest.

The fastest backup is done with a USB 2.0 Flash Drive. These are the most portable size.  These only have a capacity of .5 to 8gb of data, and cost between $18 to $124 each

A Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive has alot more capacity of data, 60gb to 160gb, and cost $119 to $199 each.

An External USB 2.0 Hard Drive has even more capacity of data, 80gb to 1000gb, and cost $125 to $550 each.

8.  How many different backup generations (or devices) should I have?   The ideal situation is to have a rotating collection of three generations.  If backing up daily, use device-A today, use device-B tomorrow, use device-C the next day, and then use device-A the folloing day.  Some businesses even extend this three to five, and have a backup marked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to make it easier to identify.  However, if you're ecconomically minded, and we revert to rule #1 above, then just having one device to backup whenever you happen to think about it, is still doing something!

9.  Where do I keep the backup?  At least one of your backup device should be kept in a fireproof cabinet or at another location.  An example, I keep my backup in my vehicle.