There are many ways you can unintentionally lose information on a computer. A child playing the keyboard like a piano, a power surge, lightning, floods. And sometimes equipment just fails.

If you regularly make backup copies of your files and keep them in a separate place, you can get some, if not all, of your information back in the event something happens to the originals on your computer.

Deciding what to back up is highly personal. Anything you cannot replace easily should be at the top of your list. Before you get started, make a checklist of files to back up. This will help you determine what to back up, and also give you a reference list in the event you need to retrieve a backed-up file. Here are some file suggestions to get you started:

• Bank records and other financial information
 
• Digital photographs
 
• Software you purchased and downloaded from the Internet
 
• Music you purchased and downloaded from the Internet
 
• Personal projects
 
• Your e-mail address book
 
• Your Microsoft Outlook calendar
 
• Your Internet Explorer bookmarks
 

If you haven't already decided where you want to store your backup copies—external hard disk drive, CDs, DVDs, or some other storage format—and you want to know more about your options, you can read about the types of external storage available.

After you've decided what you want to back up and where you're going to back up, you're ready to learn how to back up.