Have It Your Way

One of the frustrations I often see is caused when people assume they have to adapt to the computer rather than adapting the computer to them. While it is true you have to keep learning new things with the computer, you can make it work in ways that make sense to you and take advantage of the things you already know.

There is no one correct way to do things, no one right solution. I can figure out at least three ways of doing something without trying, five with a little thought. Sometimes I can find as many as seven. So, the correct way to do things, or the right solution, is the one that makes the most sense for you and your skills and needs.

One of my rules of thumb is if something only needs to be done once, or so infrequently you can’t remember from one time to the next, let someone else do it. Or, set it up so you need to do (and learn) as little as possible.

If it’s something you’re going to do repeatedly, find a way to do it so the new skills you learn will have multiple uses.

For example – backing up. I know many of you worry about it. I also know many of you don’t do it--at least not often enough. The reason is because it gets too convoluted and complex to back up regularly. So, I’ll use this as an example of finding the solution that works best for your skills and needs. Here are just four of the ways you could back up:

One way to back up is to use a tape drive. It takes a healthy investment up front (hundreds of dollars for the drive, the tapes, and for someone to set things up) but then it requires nothing more from you than changing the tape on some predetermined schedule. If you ever have a disaster where you need the files, chances are you’ll need help recovering them (another cost). A major downside is you will need a computer that has a tape drive that reads the tapes you’ve created. So, this solution is great for someone who will spend the money to automate 99 percent of the work. This is designed for a desktop computer, not a notebook.

Another solution is to back up to CDs or DVDs. Chances are you already have a CD burner with your computer (if you bought a new one in the past few years) so you just have to buy the blank CDs. Bonus tip: To use this method you’ll have to make sure your files are organized on your computer in a way that makes it easy and quick (you don’t want to hunt down the files every time you want to back them up). Since this is a one time organization effort, you may want to get help if you’re not sure where everything is or how to move them so your programs will know where they are. An advantage of this method is learning how to burn (create) CDs is a useful skill to have. You can use it to create products, music CDs with your favorite songs, send large files to clients or associates, or for any number of reasons. Besides being quick and easy, another advantage is the files can be used as is on just about any computer.

A third way to back up is to use a software program. There are dozens out there. All of them require you to spend a little money (usually under $50) and time to learn them. Once you learn a program, your involvement will depend on the software you’ve chosen and the settings you use. This can range anywhere from setting things up once and never messing with it again (except to change the CD or whatever media it’s using to backup) to your reviewing all the files it is backing up (and anywhere in between). Depending on the program you use, the backed up files should be available on any computer without any trouble.

A fourth way is to use some kind of portable hard disk. This is the solution I use. I used to just copy all the files in My Documents to it about once a month and changed files as often as I remembered. Fortunately, I found a software program, Second Copy, that has made this much better. I spent about five minutes setting it up and now with two clicks of my mouse, all of my files are backed up whenever I want. I could have it scheduled to automatically back up at a specific time if I preferred. The great advantages to using a portable hard disk is everything fits on it (it would take about six CDs to back up everything in My Documents) and I can plug it in to just about any computer and have all of my files ready to use. Also, I can just throw it in my briefcase when I go out so I always have my backup with me.

As you can see, there is no one right solution for backing up. Your needs, skills, and time versus money ratio will determine what works best for you. This is true of just about anything you do with the computer. So, look for the solution that adapts to how you work rather than forcing you to adapt to how the computer works.