Hi Folks,

Q:
Is there a way I can back up my folders with something other than a CD? What do you recommend? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

A:
I would love to help! That's actually an excellent question, because in a world where technology is changing every day, it's no surprise that you would ask this. It seems like just yesterday that floppy disks were the "cool" thing to use and now we've sort of gone past CDs as well. Of course, CDs are still a good way to save your information, but is there something even better? To some, a flash drive may seem like the better answer when it comes to saving your important data and that's exactly what we're going to talk about today!

So, if you own a flash drive, this tip is especially meant for you! If you have one, you probably already know what I'm talking about, but just in case some of you aren't sure, a flash drive is a tiny portable device you can use to save your files, etc. It goes into one of your computer's USB ports and it functions as a removable hard drive from there. It is versatile in that you can use it on any computer that has an available USB port. Most flash drives have at least 512 MB of space, but the more popular ones these days have either 1 or 2 GB, which is a lot of space.

Now that we've gone over that, let's move on to the actual tip for today! If you're wanting to save one of your folders (the complete folder) with a USB flash drive, just follow the directions below and you'll be done in no time at all.

1.) Go ahead and insert your flash drive into one of your USB ports. The port will either be on the front, the side or the back of your computer, depending on which style you have.

2.) Once the flash drive is recognized by your computer, double click on the My Computer icon on your desktop. (You can also access this by going to Start, My Computer).

3.) Next, right click on the folder you want to save. It could be your Shared Documents or maybe just one of your individual folders. Either way, right click it and select the Send To option. From there, choose Removable Disk. You may have several options for this, but just pick the one your flash drive is listed under. It could be any letter between G and J.

4.) Now, you may receive a prompt that tells you to overwrite the files that are already on the flash drive. You'll want to check this out, because you don't want any old versions of the files to be saved and you don't want to lose anything else that may already be saved on the drive. If you don't receive the prompt, just go ahead and continue.

5.) This is the step where the files will transfer themselves over to your flash drive. Now, depending on the amount of files you have to transfer, this could take quite a long time. You may want to go grab something to eat or take a nap while you're waiting. When the transfer is finished, the File Transfer window will go away.

6.) Next, go back to your My Computer window and right click on the removable disk icon that your flash drive is listed under. Select Eject and everything will then disappear from your screen. You can then safely remove the flash drive from the USB port.

Once you remove the flash drive, the backup is complete. Now, there are just a couple tips you'll want to follow before you start this process. For one, make sure you have enough room on your flash drive for all of the data you're saving. If you don't have enough space, the complete folder, etc. will not transfer over. Also, make sure you never remove the flash drive from the USB port before hitting Eject. If you do, you could do some damage to the flash drive or even worse, lose some of your data.

Okay, I'm done preaching! Now, go and back up what you want and be content in knowing you did it with a safe and trustworthy device. Aren't flash drives just the greatest?!

~ Erin

What's Your Password?

Steve came across a very interesting article the other day and lucky for all of you, he shared it with me! How does that make you lucky, you ask? Well, the article is titled "10 Most Common Passwords" and it included some mind blowing information that, in my opinion, all of you should know about too. Below is a list of the 10 most commonly used passwords by computer users today. Check it out!

1.) password
2.) 123456
3.) qwerty
4.) abc123
5.) letmein
6.) monkey
7.) myspace1
8.) password1
9.) link182
10.) your first name

Now, let me ask you this: Is your current password on that list? If so, I bet you already know what's coming next. Yep, you are putting yourself at great risk by using a password like that. Passwords like those can be guessed by hackers in a matter of seconds, which means you're only making things easier for them. All in all, if you're using one of the above passwords, I urge you to change it right away. If you need help coming up with a more secure password, read this tip. It's very easy to create a password that will keep you better protected, so please do it today. For goodness sake, please keep yourself safe!

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