Ho, ho, oh no! Top tips for backing up your personal data this Christmas

Christmas time is a time for presents! As in years before, mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and notebooks are expected to top the Christmas gift charts, bringing joy to young and old throughout the world. While the older generation is enjoying the unwrapping and thinking about best installation practices, the younger "generation digital" has already set up their smartphones and shot selfies in front of the Christmas tree. But, no matter if young or old, digital-advanced or computer-basic, every one of them has precious and unique digital data on their devices that has a high personal value to them, like rare family photos with the grandparents, videos of a child’s first steps or the first date SMS by the beloved husband. Alas, all this precious data can easily fall victim to data loss, if the device gets stolen, broken or damaged.

To make sure that all your data stays safe and sound -- wherever it resides and whatever happens to the mobile device -- it is important to always backup your data. Follow these six easy steps to be prepared for the worst:

1. Schedule regular backups.  Backups need to be made regularly to be always up-to-date and to protect your most recent data. Start with an initial full backup of the entire system (full system image backup), and then set up automatic, incremental backups. An incremental backup stores only data that has been changed or added since the last backup. This saves disk space and decreases the time each backup runs. Define your backup schedule once based on your assessment of how much data you are willing to lose. In order to give you peace of mind and to save time and effort, you should choose a backup software that can automatically back up your system and files.
2. File backup is not enough, protect your whole system. Windows is a complex operating system and some data -- like passwords, system settings, and applications -- lives outside of files. For this reason, it is useful to have a backup solution with disk imaging technology that backs up the entire system. If you opt for just a file backup solution, you will be unable to restore systems configurations. Over time, documents get filed into desktop folders, temporary files, or bookmarks. Even these forgotten folders have to be backed up, as well as any hidden partitions. Create a full system image backup first and you don't have to worry about your data anymore because your entire computer is safe.
3. Use dual protection. Protect your most important data twice by backing it up to the cloud, as well as your hard disk. With the cloud you can restore your system anytime, anywhere and on any computer. It is fast and easy, within only a few clicks everything is protected and can easily be recovered. To make things easy to remember and to play it safe, follow the 3-2-1 backup rule: Keep three sets of your data (one primary set and two backup copies), store your backups on at least two different types of storage media (local disk, network, etc.) and keep one of these copies offsite (in the cloud).
4. Test how recovery works, before a disaster strikes. The worst case can happen at any time, from the moment you purchase your device to the day that it dies. That’s why it is very important not only to back up your data but also to test it. That way you won’t panic but will be able to rely on your testing experience and follow calmly the simple recovery process step by step. Testing the backup is also important to see if the backup really worked or if there were any unknown issues that happened during the backup process.
5. Always make sure your system is well-protected before any installation. Before installing new programs, updates or drivers, run a full image backup to avoid losing any data. Updates and installations can easily go wrong and cause severe failures to the operating system. When you have a complete backup, you can easily return to the last system state known to be good. Backup solutions that include a sandbox function can make these scenarios even easier as they offer the chance to try out whatever you like and to decide afterwards if you want to keep or discard the changes.
6. Watch out for reliable data encryption in case of third-party usage. It is important to understand that protection does not stop at creating backups, but continues to topics like encryption and storage management. If you store your data on third-party services, don’t rely on tools with little or no encryption, otherwise you provide unintentional access to anyone on those servers sometimes without even knowing. Nobody wants someone else to know everything about her or him, but storing private information on the Internet or with a service is no different. So choose a backup solution that offers privacy options such as backup encryption at the source and stores your data in a trusted data center ideally within your own country.

By following these recommendations, there’s no worst-case scenario that users of computers and digital devices need to be afraid of when capturing memories on their devices. Instead of worrying about data loss due to failing hardware, disasters, malware or simply a wrong click, they can rather spend this time to enjoy their families, Christmas parties and New Year's resolutions!

Photo credit scyther5 / Shutterstock

Sandra Adelberger is the director product marketing at Acronis. Acronis sets the standard for New Generation Data Protection through its backup, disaster recovery, and secure access solutions. Powered by the Acronis AnyData Engine and set apart by its image technology, Acronis delivers easy, complete and safe backups of all files, applications and operating systems across any environment -- virtual, physical, cloud and mobile. Founded in 2003, Acronis protects the data of over 5 million consumers and 500,000 businesses in over 145 countries.