Why Is it Important to Maintain a System Back Up?

A system backup is a common computer procedure for individuals and businesses to protect their information stored in their system. Computer crashes, viruses and power surges often cause information loss if the system is not backed up.

Purpose

• The purpose of a system back up is to copy all the information from the hard drive of the computer to another source. The information is backed up on tapes, CDs, online sites and using other media-storage devices. System backups are performed daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the amount of information.

Protection of Documents

• Individuals and companies perform routine system backups to protect important documents. For an individual, this means financial records, scanned documents and other important documents. For a business, this includes proposals, case files and bids.

Financial Records

• Financial records for individuals and businesses are often stored on a computer. If the system crashes, and there is no backup, all information can be lost forever. Re-entering all this financial information is very tedious and time-consuming.