The 4 Best Laptop Backup Solutions

People searching for data backup solutions often overlook that service as it applies to a laptop.  Doing a laptop backup, for some reason, does not rank very high on most people's action item list, despite the fact that laptop computers are scores more likely to be stolen than a desktop.  Add that risk to the fact that a laptop computer is just as likely to quit as a desktop (in some cases, even more so), you need to explore backup options for your laptop.One of the easiest solutions for laptop backup is using flash memory units.  You can find them very cheaply in a number of sizes ranging from as little as a few megabytes all the way up to multiple gigabytes.  They are the new floppy disk; they store data indefinitely with no power usage and are highly portable.  Unfortunately, they are also easy to steal or damage.  External hard drives are a great way to store your data.  They remain separated from the main system, so they are not usually affected by system wide problems, are available in huge sizes, and have recently become quite affordable.  Of course, you can still lose them or they can crash just as easily as a regular drive.Some people feel comfortable backing up their data burning CD copies of their important folders.  This is fine if you only want to backup key files and only so often, but this type of media can only be used once and doesn't have the storage capacity to make it practical for extremely large amounts of data.Online backup services have grown in popularity recently due to their ease of use, very high security, and relatively low cost.  Some services even have an option that backs up your files automatically every day or so (you can set the time frame).  The main downside to this service is that if your computer crashes, you need Internet access to restore your files.  Remember that you can be downloading huge amounts of files for a restoration operation, so that can take some serious time.  No Internet connection can be as fast as the USB port you plug an external drive into.  While no one method is completely fool proof, using two or more methods for redundant security is often the best course of action.  Luckily for us, the cost of a laptop backup plan is pretty low in general, so using two methods is not prohibitively expensive.  Pick one method or pick them all, but just do it before it is too late.Carbonite was our "Editor's Choice" for the best laptop backup solution. Visit us to read the full Carbonite backup review to see why we rate it so highly.