Forgetful Brits are losing priceless data every year because they fail to back up their phones and computers, according to new research.
One in five NEVER back up their home computers and over a third never bother to do so on their mobile phones.
A quarter of the 1,000 UK adults who took part in the survey by Verbatim, a leading manufacturer of data storage devices, to coincide with World Backup Day admitted they didn’t take the precaution because they were simply too lazy.
“Having the hard drive on your PC crash can be a traumatic experience. It’s not difficult to do regular backups. There’s a plethora of hardware and software solutions available for backing up, and innumerable tutorials and advice on the internet. Back up and restore is even built into the latest version of Microsoft Windows and requires just three clicks of the mouse. Apple offers similar functionality with Time Machine,” explains Rüdiger Theobald of Verbatim.
“Computer data recovery is a tricky business. Where physical failure has occurred, and the hard drive needs to be worked on in a cleanroom, typical costs can be in excess of £500 and there’s no guarantee all the data will be recovered,” he added.
Brits are most worried about losing pictures, followed by personal documents, videos and music.
But one person in five has lost personal data on their home computer or smart phone within the last year.
Owners experienced data loss because of hardware failure (25 per cent), accidental damage (17 per cent), a computer virus (13 per cent) and software corruption (13 per cent).
Men are more likely than women to back up their home computers and phones every month, according to the research.
Dozens of respondents reported having lost pictures, including wedding photos, and important documents.
Some of the more maddening losses included:
* A budding author who lost 50,000 words of his debut novel when his laptop crashed
* A college student who lost his dissertation after saving it straight to a USB stick which became corrupted
* A self-employed businessman who finally completed his self-assessment tax return only to lose it all when a power cut wiped his computer memory.
Over 60 per cent admit they never save the contents of their mobile or laptop, leaving them without purchased software and music, priceless photos and emails and work documents.
The results emerged from a survey of 1,000 UK adults by Verbatim, a company selling USB drives, portable hard drives and optical media (CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs), ahead of World Backup Day on March 31st.
The Verbatim spokesman added: “Given that mobile device use is growing so rapidly, it’s worrying that nearly half of respondents in the survey said they had already lost data from their smartphone or tablet.
“One potential issue, when it comes to our apparent reticence about backing up, is that people don’t trust online storage providers in spite of the fact that they routinely commit our content to the likes of Facebook and YouTube.
“It’s not wise to rely wholly on online backups, because there’s no guarantee that you won’t lose your data. Online backup services are a great addition to local backups, not a substitute for them.
“What also is apparent is that people do not pay as much attention as they should to considering the likely longevity of the media they use. The average hard drive – internal or external – will last for five years and USB/flash memory sticks around eight years.
“Verbatim and Millenniata has announced the launch of a 100GB Blu-ray optical disk which, according to internationally-accepted lifetime testing standards, has a lifetime in excess of 1,000 years.
“In an era when technology is unbelievably affordable and the range of choices bewilderingly wide, it is essential to remember the old maxim: you get what you pay for. Whether it’s external hard drives, USB sticks or optical media, it’s important to consider buying such technology from a reputable and trusted manufacturer.
“Ahead of April Fool’s Day, it’s worth remembering to back up your data on March 31st although I would suggest people should treat every day as if it were World Backup Day.”
