Backups: the “what if this laptop died today” test
Ransomware, theft, coffee, and a hard drive simply stopping are all the same event from your side: the files are gone. A current backup turns a disaster into an inconvenient afternoon.
The classic rule still holds. Three copies of anything that matters, on two different kinds of storage, with one of them somewhere else.
Do this today
- Answer the test honestly: if this laptop died right now, what would you lose? Write the list. It is usually photos, tax records, and one folder of work.
- Set up one automatic backup for that list — cloud sync, an external drive, ideally both. Automatic, because manual backups stop happening by week three.
- Restore one file. Just one. An untested backup fails at exactly the wrong moment.
What good looks like
Losing the machine costs you money and a day, not memories or records.
At least one copy is somewhere a fire, a flood or ransomware in your house could not reach. Ransomware encrypts attached drives too.
Want someone to just do this for you? Start a conversation — twenty minutes, free.
Last reviewed: September 2026