PC Security Measures for Data
Millions of people are now running PCs that are truly instrumental to their success. This is clearly more evident today than ever before. Many businesses, without the use of operational PCs, will totally shut down. This is really the case if your PC is used in the act of production or providing the service that is sold. If, for example, the company is a graphic arts service provider – like a print shop or sign maker – the lack of an operational PC will likely cripple the firm to even get business, let alone complete it, until the system is repaired.
Therefore, the security of PCs and their data is now a paramount consideration in small businesses and large. Many people believe that all they need to do to be secure is to install virus protection. However, just a review of the way in which you operate on a daily basis will often reveal other things that are critical but which you are not currently doing.
Let us assume, for example, that you are the machine shop referenced above and you are creating a new design for a customer that you have really been trying to get. Let us assume also that you have tight tolerances and a very tight schedule. Assume next that on day four of a five day project when prototypes are to be delivered to the customer that you sustain a head crash on the hard drive of the PC used for engineering. Finally, assume like many other PC users, that you do not regularly back up your files on CD. Your new customer, when informed that the project outputs will not be available for review today – and the project will not be done on time, will likely go elsewhere. While an extreme example, this sort of thing happens every day.
Given the scenario above as a recognized real concern, what are the things that you should be doing to protect your data? Well, first of all – as seen from the previous example – data security and backup is just as critical as virus protection. You should back up your data files weekly in a typical, accounting-only environment. If you have a shop as in the example where master files are simply not reproducible in any reasonable timeframe, then these backups should be done daily. You might even consider an internet based service that auto-backs up all your data daily – even hourly.
Do not forget to maintain and backup your Windows Registry. You can get high-quality registry software that performs the maintenance, backup and other registry fix functions that accomplish the needed Registry Repair and maintenance.