Back it Up and Protect It

This has more to do with the hardware side of photography. As I previously mentioned, I bought a Seagate external hard drive to begin backing up all of my photos and important documents. I only leave it plugged in when I have downloaded new pictures or images.

Recently, my anti-virus software of choice upgraded to a newer version and didn't offer a "free" version any longer. So I was forced to download AVG 8.0, the full trial version, in the interim. Luckily, AVG has decided to once again offer a free anti-virus program for personal use. Provided you don't use Outlook for email, AVG is an awesome program to serve all of your anti-virus needs. I've used them for over 5 years with little to no problems.

For spyware, I use Spybot and AdAware. Both are excellent (and free) programs. I was reading an article in Publix's Greenwise Market magazine that discussed donating or recycling your old electronics (think hard drives). They advised of a free program called Darik's Boot and Nuke program that supposedly erases hard drives to DoD standards. I don't believe everything that I read, but it's at least worth checking out!