Posts Tagged ‘Anguish’

Backup Power and the Freelance Writer

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the best online backup software — Back2zip. This article can be found at http://free-backup.info/backup-power-and-the-freelance-writer.html

What is Backup Power?

Backup power is a power supply which will keep your computer operating in the event of a power outage. Most backup power supplies serve as advanced surge protectors which will keep your computer running for a few minutes, even an hour or more in the event of a power outage. They operate on a chargeable battery that will make sure that the power to your computer is uninterrupted, allowing you time to save any files on your computer which are currently in use and properly shut down the computer to protect it from crashing due to loss of power.

Why Does a Freelance Writer Need Backup Power?

Imagine that you are working on your current project, are almost done and then the power shuts off your computer. While you have been saving your work as you go along, there is an entire page of material you have written that is gone, and cannot be recovered when the power returns. You must now go back and rewrite that which you have already written, costing you time and anguish.

It is even possible that the entire system will fail due to a power outage and you will find that all of the documents on your computer are damaged, and can no longer be accessed. This is a great worry for any writer, and is one that you should not have hanging on your shoulders.

A backup power supply will insure that your computer never faces an immediate loss of power. No matter the weather, or problems with the power connection, your computer’s power supply will continue uninterrupted. This will allow you time to save your work properly, then allow the computer to shut down as it should, ensuring that no harm comes to any of your work or your computer which is so important to your writing business.

How do I Get Backup Power?

There are many different backup power supplies available on the market. One of the best known companies is American Power Conversion (APC). You can find their web site at www.apcc.com. This company offers a wide range of backup power supply options for home computers.

When you are choosing a backup power supply for your computer, you will need to know how much power your computer uses, and how long you want your computer to run before losing power from the backup supply. Depending on the type of computer you own, the number of hard disks, any accessory drives installed on the computer, the processor and the monitor will determine how much power your computer uses in a given period of time. Because backup power supplies are limited, you will require a larger supply to run a computer that uses more power.

APC’s web site offers a very easy to use tool that allows you to enter in the information about your computer, as well as how long you would like to ensure that your computer keeps running during a power outage, and then will show you the products they have available which fit within your range. Backup power supplies cost generally in the range of 50 to 100 dollars for home computers, although they can cost more if you wish to have a large power supply to keep your computer running for a long time.

Backup power is a very important thing for any freelance writer, and you should ensure that your home computer is protected from sudden loss of powers.

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Computer Backup for the Freelance Writer

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Walter Stevens is a contributor at Free-backup.info — the home of the popular Amazon S3 based online backup solution — Back2zip. This article is also at http://free-backup.info/computer-backup-for-the-freelance-writer.html

What is Computer Backup?

Computer backup is the storing of copies of your files in a location apart from your hard drive. In this manner, if any damage is caused to the file on your hard drive or your hard drive in general, you will still have a copy of this file to access and use. Computer backup can take many forms, as you can utilize floppy disks, CD-Rs, DVD-Rs or the internet to perform your computer backup.

Computer Backup and the Freelance Writer

As a writer you know how important your documents are. If you lose a document for any reason it can be quite devastating to you and your writing business. Keeping proper computer backups of all of your files can save you much pain, anguish, time and trouble.

By creating copies of all of your important files, you can rest assured that no matter what happens to your computer or the files on your computer you will always have a copy of that important writing project in reserve somewhere, so that you can still access it and work on it. A writer never wants to lose his work, especially to something seemingly as trivial as a computer error.

Forms of Computer Backup

There are many different forms of computer backup. At its core all computer backup is is the storing of files on a location apart from your computer. Traditionally, floppy disks were often used for this purpose, but they are becoming increasingly obsolete. They are being replaced with CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, and one of the newest forms of computer backup: the key drive. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are burnable CDs and DVDs which can hold quite a bit of data: up to 800 and 4700 megabytes, respectively.

A key drive is a removable drive that is very small, the size of a key-chain, and can hold up to 2 gigabytes worth of data. They plug into your computer through a USB connection, and with most newer operating systems do not even require a device driver to utilize. There are also web sites in existence that allow you to backup your files online.

What is the Best Form of Computer Backup for Me?

While floppy disks are becoming increasingly obsolete, they can be a very useful form of backup for the freelance writer. CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, while able to hold great amounts of data, are not manipulable once you have written data to the disk. This means that you cannot re-save a file onto one of these disks, and if you are constantly working on a project they will be difficult to work with. While a floppy disk can only hold 1.4 megabytes, you can always work with any file on one and save it back to the disk.

This is also true with the new key drives, and if you are seeking to get ahead of the crowd, you might want to invest in one. Because it acts as essentially a removable drive, it is very easy to work with files that have been saved onto a key drive. If you are a hardworking writer who is constantly working on new projects, the key drive can be a powerful tool for you and your writing business.

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