Each of us save documents daily – to our Desktop, My Documents, etc. Today’s helpdesk tip is to ensure your data is always backed up.
Save important business documents to a Network Drive versus your local Hard Drive!
When you do a “save” in a Windows application, you are usually presented with a save dialog that allows you to specify where to save the document.
For example, you can save it to the “Desktop” or to the C: drive. However, in fact, these places are on the hard drive in your computer. To ensure that your data is backed up, always choose a network drive as the location for saving. Network drives are typically backed up on a nightly basis, whereas your local computer hard drive is rarely backed up, if ever.
Where?
To save something to a network drive you should choose either the G: drive (for “Group” files) or the H: drive (your “Home” drive). Remember, if your file is not in one of these two places (or some other network location), and your machine has to be rebuilt or the operating system reinstalled, that file will be LOST.
When?
Almost every Windows application that allows you to save is a candidate for saving to a network drive. In particular, Word, Excel, Access, and all other Office applications. The general rule of thumb is if it is business related and could impact the business if lost, it should be saved to a network drive.
Who?
Every individual in a business that uses a computer and has data that would impact the business if lost should save their data to a network drive versus the local computer.
For maximum protection, you could go as far as to store a copy locally, a copy on the network and a copy on a thumb drive. Don’t get caught in a situation where you lose all of you files!
