Fall Cleaning: Back Up Your Computer

Any computer clean-up plan should also include a backup strategy. In fact, backing up your computer is probably one of the most important things you can do, and it won't cost you much at all.

We recommend three ways to back up your data. You can either buy an external hard drive, use a high-capacity flash drive, or set up a subscription with a low-cost online storage site. Here's a quick look at each option. For more details, take a look at our Computer Backup System Buying Guide (available to subscribers).

External hard drive. Easy to install, an external hard drive usually requires a simple USB connection to your computer. With some, you may not even need software to get the backups running. They also don't cost much, so you should be able to get a drive that meets your needs for $150 or less. Get a drive that's at least the size of your current hard drive. If you get one smaller than that, make sure you weigh your future needs as well. Homes with more than one computer will need a networkable hard drive, which costs a bit more and is harder to set up, but a convenient way to share files across all your systems. The downside of an external drive: Most are not very portable.

USB flash drives. Tiny and convenient, USB flash drives have gotten large enough to serve as backup devices. Like external drives, they're easy to set up, and may run backups without requiring extra software. A 32GB backup drive should cost between $150 and $200. Best of all, you can carry the drive around with you. But that portability can also be a danger, since flash drives are easy to lose or steal.

Online services. One worry with storing backups at home is the potential for theft, fire, or other catastrophic loss. Online storage provides an option outside your house, adding an extra layer of protection by storing your data in multiple locations. We looked at a few sites, and found that they're easy to use but slow, especially during the initial backup. But you don't have to worry about setting up any hardware, and you can access your data from any Internet connection. Costs vary, but two of those we reviewed were about $50 a year for unlimited backup.

Subscribers can check out our Guide to computer backup products for reviews on various data storage solutions. —Donna Tapellini