Ginealogy tips for September

Back Up Your Digital Photos

Don't Neglect Digital Photos in Your Backup Routine

By Sue Chastain, About.com Guide

You do have a backup routine, don't you?

Some people will save film negatives for generations, but when they make the switch to digital, they may never even consider the idea of making a second backup copy of their images.

Folks, any kind of digital storage is susceptible to failure. It can't be predicted, but you can certainly plan for it. Please get in the habit of making at least monthly backups of your digital pictures--and by backup, I mean a second copy. Archiving your photos to a single CD and then deleting them from hard disk is not a second copy.

Currently, the most convenient backup solution is a second hard drive. The most affordable solution is recordable CDs and DVDs. HP's SimpleSave Photo DVDs are a very easy and affordable solution for anyone with a DVD burner drive.

For the best protection, consider making duplicates of all your archive CDs and pass one copy along to a family member or put it in a safety deposit box or fire-proof safe. Then, even in the event of a fire or theft, your precious photographic records and memories will not be lost.

Personally, I keep copies of my most recent and my best photos on my hard drive for convenience. Every night, my pictures are copied to my HP MediaSmart Server where the files are automatically duplicated. Whenever I make a CD of pictures, I make an extra copy or two to pass along to a family member to have.

In addition, my best photos are usually uploaded to an online photo sharing site such as Picasa Web Albums or Photoshop Express **. If you do rely on an online storage site for backups, be sure to choose a company that does not resize or recompress your pictures, and one that you feel confident will not go out of business.

**Gin's note: Of course, you'll want to upload them to your Heritage Makers account so you can not only have them safely stored, but also have them available to use to create fabulous gifts for your loved ones this holiday season.