Computer Data Protection

Feeling overwhelmed with all the computer data protection solutions on the market? We at computer-protection-guide.com hear you, because we are constantly on the lookout for newcomers on the market that will make your computer run smoother and offer easy to use data protection.

You see, when it comes to decent data protection, it's not so much about which program will offer better protection or more reliable backups. In today's computing world, those packages have all evolved to levels where they will offer you safe and reliable protection against data-loss or even system crashes. The main differentiating factor lies in the ease of use of these packages.

You just don't want to lose your entire digital music collection, your family photos or your personal documents that are living on your hard drive in the unlucky event that anything should happen to your computer system or hard disk.

Most personal computers that you can buy nowadays come equipped with impressive hard disk capacities, expressed in several hundreds of megabytes, sometimes even terabytes. Those hard disks that contain peoples entire digital lives are getting smaller and more performant all the time, and I'm here to tell you, the data that sits on your hard drive is not there forever. It's not unusual for a computer hard disk to completely crash at a certain point in time, and even if it keeps running smoothly, you need protection against the accidental deletion of your important files.

Windows built-in computer data protection

Some people will tell you that Windows comes with a built-in computer data protection system that you can use to backup your data. While this is absolutely true for some of the windows versions (not all Windows Vista editions come with on-board backup tools and Windows XP Home Edition also lacks the support of a backup program), most people just need something a little more user-friendly when it comes to creating backup copies of their files.

Even if your computer is equipped with Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business Edition, both of which contain an implementation of Windows backup, when was the last time you created an "Emergency Repair Disk" (ERD). Not sure what an emergency repair disk is? That's exactly my point. You still need a certain level of technical skills in order to safeguard your data with Windows backup solutions. Not all home computer users are ready to learn the required skills in order to have their files secured.

Introducing specialized computer data protection programs

That's the reason why you will find additional players in the market. Two of our favorites are Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image.

Both of these tools offer a very, very user-friendly environment where you can literally create reliable backups in a matter of a few clicks. Both offer a super easy, step-by-step wizard that will guide you through a secure backup strategy setup, complete with automated scheduling of your backup tasks.

Did you know that when using the standard Windows backup utilities, you still need to install all system devices drivers after a system restore? Most people also don't realize that performing a system restore with Windows built-in backup tools requires a clean install of the operating system *before* the actual system restore can take place. This is not to say that the standard Windows backup tools isn't a solid computer data protection solution, it's just to make sure that you understand that it requires some technical skills to perform a disaster recovery with Windows backup.

Both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image work with a so called "disk image" that will restore your entire computer, complete with all the necessary drivers and your installed programs in one smooth operation. Even your internet favorites and mail contacts with e-mail addresses will be restored automatically. That's because a disk image is a bit-by-bit copy of your entire hard drive with everything on it.

Norton Ghost and Acronis True image will offer you the possibility to create a bootable recovery media disk (a recordable cdrom or dvd) that you can use to boot up your computer and "read" your previously created disk image to completely recover your pc.

Conclusion: if you are worried about computer data protection, specialized packages like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image offer an increased level of security and user-friendliness over the standard backup tools that come in some of the current Windows versions.

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