Dust in the Wind
Peace of mind. Isn't it something we all strive for? Of course it is; but if you own a computer, peace of mind is always just a little bit out of reach. Like dust in the wind, to coin a phrase.
Computers are fragile things, when you think about it. Take dust, for example; dust piles up in the machine, heating things up and eventually damaging your components (http://tinyurl.com/ncxz6). I mean, if you have to worry about dust, how much peace of mind do you really have?
You can't beat dust - so why even bother? Because you need your PC; it's a moneymaker /saver! You struggle with dusty PCs at work because you're getting paid, and often take work home to do on your dusty home PC. If you're a student, you're investing your time in homework that will eventually get you a degree and (hopefully) a job. And if you use your computer to relax, play games and surf the Net - well, think of it as therapy, saving thousands on the psychologist you would otherwise need to calm your nerves!
Clearly, a computer is an investment - but it can "blow away" in an instant, so to say. You use your PC to make and/or save money. And like a financial investment, you want to make sure that your PC is protected - and that in the event of a calamity, your "assets" (i.e., your files) are protected.
You already have an anti-virus program and a firewall, so you're probably OK when it comes to hacker attacks (although there's always a chance "something" could get through). But what about dust? You can't keep it off your easily-dustable bookshelves; how are you going to keep it out of the insides of your PC? You could open the box every day and dust things out - maybe get one of those dumb-looking little vacuum cleaners (http://tinyurl.com/yqdb3m) to remove the daily dust.
That'll work - until you accidentally pull an important wire out or somehow short the power supply out. Face it; dust is an enemy that can't be beat, and sooner or later your computer is going to go belly up.
But forget the hardware; the investment you need to protect is your files, the stuff you create out of your own head. You need to back it up - and for that, there's Mozy (http://mozy.com), the free on-line backup system. If you don't have an alternative dust-free hard drive to back things up to, Mozy is for you. The free version lets you back up as much as 2 GB of data (for $5 a month you can back up as much data as you want). The Mozy software does incremental backups of the folders you choose, and encrypts to ensure that your eyes only see what's on the Mozy servers.
Mozy supports Windows 2000 and beyond, and there is a Mac (OS X 10.4) beta version as well.
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