Today most of us have hundreds or even thousands of embroidery designs stored on our computer. Hopefully we have them stored in some meaningful way that allows us to find the design we need when we need it.
As we all know hard drives and computers don’t live forever. If you’ve ever faced a computer or hard drive crash you know what I’m talking about. In an instant all those designs you’ve spent years collecting can be gone forever.
The best way to prevent such a loss is to create backups of your designs. Even multiple backups aren’t a bad idea. Keeping your designs in two or three different places can insure you’ll have them for many years to come. Backing up your designs, as well as other important data, is now easier than ever. Not only are there numerous ways to accomplish this task, but the cost of computer devices and storage media get more affordable every day.
Let’s take a look at some good and not so good storage methods.
External Hard Drives - Good
All of today’s computers come equipped with USB ports. If you don’t have enough ports for all the USB devices you want to attach to your computer, more ports can easily be added by purchasing a USB expansion hub. External USB hard drives are an inexpensive way to add additional mega-storage to your system. Large capacity external hard drives are available at very reasonable prices. They are plug & play devices that are quick and easy to install. Once installed you have plenty of space to store copies of all your designs. The drive can be moved to other computers or your new computer should your old one fail.
This method is the easiest of all to use. There is nothing to mount or format and the process is quite fast compared to other backup options. The drive is attached to and recognized by your computer at all times. It’s ready to accept data in an instant. The only downside is the speculative life span of hard drives.
CD-ROM - Better
Optical media, such as the CD-ROM, is another good choice. Most computers come equipped with CD burners and pre-installed software that will allow you to make backup copies easily. The media itself is very inexpensive and can be purchased in large quantities for even less. They do have limited storage capacity, normally 700-800 megabytes, so how many you need depends on how many designs you have.
Generally the CD-ROM should last about 10 years, but studies have shown that the life span may be significantly reduced if stored in dark areas where there is no sunlight. Keep this in mind when selecting your storage location.
DVD - Best
Another available optical device is the DVD. While not all computers come with DVD burners as standard equipment, they are usually available as an option. You may also purchase an external DVD burner that can be added to your system through a USB port. Purchasing an external DVD burner has other advantages too. It’s not necessary to have a DVD burner for every computer in your home or office. A single burner can be unplugged and moved from computer to computer in a matter of minutes.
While DVD media does cost more than CD-ROM media they have a much larger storage capacity. The DVD can hold more than 4 gigabytes of data in the single layer mode. The capacity would be twice that using the dual layer mode.
Another advantage to DVD media is their longevity. Since different laser technology is used for DVDs the stored data can virtually last forever. Of course we all know nothing lasts forever, but when compared to CDs the DVD has a far greater life expectancy which obviously makes it the best choice for long term storage.
Media Cards & Other Portable Devices - Bad
Storing your designs on removable media such as compact flash cards or thumb drives isn’t really a good idea. They are great for temporary storage and for transferring designs from your computer to your embroidery machine, but they are not intended to be used for long term storage. Generally they have a fairly high failure rate.
The higher quality cards are somewhat more reliable, but the cost is considerably higher than the general purpose cards most of us buy. The simple fact that we carry these around with us puts them at risk. Dropping them, getting them wet or exposing them to static electricity can cause pre-mature failure.
Floppy Disks – Worst
Floppy disks are nearly a thing of the past. It probably won’t be long before we see them only in museums. Most computer manufacturers no longer include floppy drives as standard equipment on new computers. Floppies are the most unreliable media of all. They degrade rapidly and can fail quite easily. They are higly susceptible to static eletricity and magnetic fields. Their longevity, even if stored properly, isn’t very long at all. I would not recommend using them as a long term storage solution.
Summary
As I mentioned earlier, making more than one backup copy is not a bad idea. Keeping your designs in two or three different places can help insure against loss. Which ever method you choose for backing up your designs, be sure to back them up often. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Set up a regular schedule for making backups and stick to it. If you have software that permits scheduled automatic backups consider a daily or weekly schedule.
You won’t be sorry. When the day comes, and it will, that your computer dies or your hard drive crashes you won’t lose all those treasured designs. When you add up the total cost of your design collection it will most likely dwarf the cost of backup storage devices and recordable media.
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