ChickSpeak

Imagine this: You’re just about to put the finishing touches on your big term paper. 

Despite your lack of sleep and caffeine buzz, along with the blood, sweat and tears you’ve put into this thing, you’re feeling pretty darn good. 

You might even have time to take a nap before your presentation that’s due for Professor Who’s His Face’s class later today. Life is good.

All you have to do now is polish it up, print it out and walk the paper over to your professor’s office.  You do a quick spell check and…. oh God… your screen is frozen. You can’t restart it. Suddenly everything gets scrambled. Your computer is dead… like beyond fried. 

Before you break down and start sobbing, here’s a sobering question to assess the damage:  Did you back everything up and what’s your plan for recovery?

After her computer died for the 8th time in about 18 months, Julie Lenzer Kirk, found out first hand how miserable it is to loose data and how expensive it can be to try to fix a laptop if something should go wrong.  Armed with a B.S. in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and experience as an award wining and successful IT entrepreneur, author and business coach, Julie is a fantastic source for all things Techie.

She’s graciously let us share her top 3 tips on how to protect one of your most valuable possessions: your laptop.   

From Julie Lenzer Kirk:

Thankfully, I am a bit of a geek so I was able to get all of my data off of the computer. However, the lesson for you, especially the not-so-geeky ones out there - when is the LAST TIME you backed up the data off your computer? Do you even know how to make a copy of your mail file so you don’t lose all your contacts with your recent e-mail? Although my husband SWEARS I emit some magnetic field that tends to fry electronic hardware, I believe the threat is not reserved for me. If you use technology extensively in your business like most entrepreneurs, (or in your classes like most students) you need to follow these guidelines for protecting yourself:

1. Create a backup of all critical files and when possible, keep a copy of them offsite. This can be in the form of a memory stick (they’re so inexpensive now!), a CD, or even another machine. Files should be backed up on a frequency that works with how often you update them. Weekly would be a minimum for average entrepreneurial activity.

2. Backup your e-mail.This is where the non-geeks may need some help. I use Outlook, which stores all my mail in a file with a PST extension. By default, however, the folder this is in stays hidden from you unless you change it. If you’re really need to do this, let me know and I’ll post detailed instructions. If you use something that is internet-based such as Yahoo or Hotmail, they should be taking care of the backups (you hope!).

3. Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date. Even if you never suffer a hardware failure, the chances of your machine becoming infected with a virus are good unless you have protection and, here’s the kicker, keep it updated! Deviant minds are at work all over the world trying to bring you (yes, YOU!) down. The anti-virus folks are working equally hard to break their codes and eradicate their bugs. Choose the good side of this battle between good and evil. Pay to keep your anti-virus software updated.
I know the above sounds like a pain, but with technology as pervasive in our work and in our lives, you can NOT afford to spend hours recreating stuff you’ve already done. It is bad enough that I have had to reinstall software 6 times over the last 18 months…please don’t get caught with your guard down!

Julie is a successful and award-winning IT entrepreneur and is currently President of Path Forward International, which provides keynotes, workshops, and consulting to give entrepreneurial companies and individuals a “Boot in the Butt™” to launch new ideas, grow existing ventures, find their work/life balance, and fine-tune their leadership skills. She is a sought-after speaker on topics of entrepreneurship, business management and leadership, and balancing work and family.  She currently resides in the Baltimore / Washington D.C. metro area with her husband and two children.