Security & Privacy

Most computer users don’t realize it, but computer maintenance is a type of security. I’m not talking here about ways of protecting yourself from viruses and malware, hackers and vandals, or other Internet security threats, but rather about ways to ensure that you don’t lose your files. As pointed out in a recent post, there are lots of ways you can lose data, and some of them are due to hardware problems, power surges, or other preventable disasters.

Macworld magazine is running an article about maintaining your Mac, which includes some very useful tips: buy a surge protector or UPS (I’d suggest the latter, since a UPS protects against power outages and includes surge protection), and keep a bootable emergency disk on hand (you can use Intego Personal Backup to create a bootable backup of your startup disk). Other tips in the article are less about actual protection for your computer and more about insurance, keeping good records, checking your RAM, etc.

At the same time, Macworld has an article entitled Five Mac Maintenance Myths, debunking some of those so-called maintenance tips you read on the web. No, you don’t need to repair permissions; it usually doesn’t do anything. No, you probably don’t need to run the Unix maintenance scripts; there’s a reason why they’re scheduled to run at the crack of dawn. And, no, you probably don’t need to defragment your drive. It’s worth checking this article; you’ll save time, and you’ll better understand how your Mac works.

Intego Personal Backup X5 protects you from data loss by allowing you to make many kinds of backups: bootable backups of your startup drive, backups to file servers, iDisks or FTP servers; and backups that span multiple optical discs. Keep your files safe, above all, and if something does happen to your Mac, you’ll be happy you did.