The causes for data loss include hardware failure, human error or damage caused by a computer virus. This loss can cause a minor hiccup or a major crisis depending upon the scale of loss. In either case you need a disaster preparation plan to protect your important records, and recover lost data.

When it comes to disaster preparation, most people are their own worst enemies. Data loss catches them unprepared time and again. When disaster strikes people scramble to locate backup tapes, Windows CDs, installation CDs or disks that are not to be found. They may have been thrown away a long time ago or may never have been created.

For quick and trouble-free recovery of lost data you need to make plans in advance and revise your preparations as the system changes. Much depends upon the back up process. This can minimize data loss and downtime.

You need to assemble a disaster kit that contains all the CDs and driver diskettes of your system, and store them in a plastic tote or a cardboard box at a place where they can be located easily.

The disaster kit must have a current startup disk, the Windows CD and all the original application CDs. It should also contain protective disaster disks or tape backups and driver diskettes or CDs for the devices used in your system. It helps if you keep all the manuals and documentation of the system in the disaster kit.

It also pays to run a complete backup of your system every time you make major changes. It may not be necessary to backup the system too often, but it is preferable to get into the habit of making backups consistently. You may decide to do this every three months, depending on your needs. But you must check to see that the backup is working. This can save a lot of red faces when disaster strikes.

While disaster kits can be a big help when there is a major problem like hard drive failure, you also need to make backups of your important files on a daily basis. A damaged application can be re-installed from its original disk but it may prove to be difficult or impossible to recover lost data files.

You may end up losing a month’s work if you don’t make back up copies. If you do it consistently every day, all you stand to lose is a day’s work.

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