There are many great programs out there that automate the backup of your files. Some are free while others you have to pay for. Either way, you have to learn how to use the software which can be a daunting task for someone that is not too computer literate. Below you will find steps that help you manually back up the files on your computer to external media such as a DVD.

We rely on computers every day and with that comes the issue of backing up your files. It is key to backup files from time to time because if anything were to happen to your hard disk, you could loose your information.

People rarely back up their files because of a certain intimidation that still exists. Files are scattered throughout your desktop and your computer. It gets overwhelming to find all these files therefore people do not do anything at all.

One technique that we use when backing up their computers is to organize every file on the computer that needs to be backed up. Usually, these files are located on the desktop and in the My Documents folder. I create a few folders on the desktop and limit each folder to the size of a disk whether it be a CD or DVD depending on how I am backing up my files. Using this method, each folder is equal to one backup disk. This way, the files are a little easier to manage.

I move all the files from the My Documents folder and put them in the folders that I created. After the files are in the respective folders on the desktop, I open up the My Computer folder and open the disk drive that will write the disks. This is assuming of course that you have a CD or DVD burner and you are using Windows XP.

Click on “Write Files to Disk” and then follow the on screen wizard.

Once you are finished backing up all your files, move them back to My Computer. You can also remove them if you need the space.