Many tech support companies get questions about data backup. It’s an important aspect of any computer. When you get valuable information in the mail, what do you do with it? You probably put it in a safe place so you can refer to it later.

When you send information

to companies, you usually make a copy first to ensure that you have the same information in case it is lost. The same is true with information on your computer. By scanning and saving everything onto your computer, you have everything you need in one convenient place.

Once you’ve decided to consider data backup, you may wonder what to do or how to do it. While you can always call a tech support company to walk you through it or do it for you, you may decide to do it yourself. Plus, you can always call your tech support agent for help if you get stuck.

Organize/Gather Information

The process of scanning and saving may take a long time, depending on what you have. You may want to break it up into sections and do one section a day. Consider doing photographs one day, scrapbooking needs another, personal documents on the third day and letters on the fourth.

Collect as much of your items as you can, such as photographs. Then, divide those photos into chunks, such as one birthday party, your wedding, your daughter’s wedding, etc.

Where To Save

Next, you should determine where you’re saving these pictures or documents. Are you going to use a flash drive or do you want them on the hard drive of your computer? It is important to realize that scanned images can take up more space than traditional documents, so make sure you have enough memory or enough flash drives. If using a flash drive, you should plug it in to ensure it works, rename it and then create folders to make it easier.

Scanner/Scanning

If it’s not already plugged in, you should plug in your scanner and turn it on. It may be helpful to do a test scan to make sure that it has the correct settings. You may need to refer to your guide for help, especially if you’ve never used the scanner before.

You can usually preview the scan to ensure that it captured everything, and it looks okay. Then, you can save it to the hard drive or the flash drive.

Repeat

Once you’ve finished with one picture or document, you should place it in a pile marked complete. Continue scanning and saving each item until you are finished for the day. Remember, you can break it up and do a few here and there until they’re all digitized.