Roy Schestowitz wrote:
Can someone please tell me the benefits of Palm backup programs? Why not
just make copies of the relevant data file? I must be missing something, or
else people would not be _paying_ to have a failsafe.
Roy
Ah, why back up computer files? Why not just make copies of the
important files on the hard disk? The answer is that there are failure
mechanisms that can cause loss of *all* the data on a hard drive, or in
a PDA's memory, all at once, in an instant. Doesn't matter how many
copies you have -- they can all be wiped out at once.
I personally had my Palm lose all its brains in the middle of a business
trip, where I was using the Palm to record business expenses. It was the
first and last time I ever used it for that or any other important
purpose, unless I had my laptop along in order to make frequent backups.
I recently got my second Palm, a Zire 31. The first software I got for
it was software to back up its contents to an SD card, which will retain
the data even if the machine loses it brains. But even the SD card can
fail, so critical files can be backed up to a second card, which can
then be removed and safely stored. And for the first time, I'll use the
Palm to store data that can't easily be replaced -- but it'll be well
backed up.
I hope you don't have to experience a hard drive or PDA crash to learn
the importance of backing up. It's a tough way to learn. But the lesson
*will* stay with you!
Roy Lewallen
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