Now that you have read my recommendations for keeping your data save, you need to be aware of what can go wrong.  Otherwise you will be calling me and asking why you weren’t warned!

1. When backing up your stuff, it is best to disconnect the backup device when you are not actually using it.  Should you become infected by a ransomware program, it will affect all connected devices.  It will, therefore, corrupt your backup if it can get to it.
2. If burning a CD or DVD,  be sure to verify the process.  Also, with any backup system, occasionally look at the backup and see if the computer is actually backing up your data.  It does you absolutely no good to tell me you have your data backed up and when I go to look for it I find that your backups have not actually been working!
3. Remember to store CD’s, DVD’s, and flash drives in a save place.  Don’t lay them in the sun or put them somewhere where they will be subject to extremes in temperature.
4. If using a cloud backup system, ask the company how many backups they store.  For instance, in the case of ransomware, the corrupt files will be backed up to the cloud and will be useless.  If the company has several offline backups (Carbonite assures me that this is how they operate) then they can put one of good copies online for you to restore your data.