Q I often read about the importance of making backups of any important data I need or want to keep safe. Can you tell me what it means to make a backup and how I go about it?
Paul Hayden

A To put it simply, a backup is a copy of a computer file, such as a digital photograph or an mp3 music file, stored in a different place to the original.

Making a backup could be as simple a process as copying the file to a USB memory key, or copying it to CD.

Because of the risk that your computer could fail – particularly when installing new software or hardware – it’s a good idea to make regular backups of important files.

If you have only a few such files, regularly copying them to a USB memory key or burning them to CD should be sufficient.

For most users, buying a dedicated backup program such as BackupMyPC or Nero Backup is a better idea, as this will automate the process.

The risk of an all-round failure is very small, but there is a greater risk that part of a disk could fail, and since that could be the part on which your important pictures are saved, having a backup is a good idea.