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What is the best way to back up my files?

A disk image backup is the best type of backup, as opposed to file backup. An image backup basically takes a picture of your entire hard drive and then copies it onto a second external drive. If your disk drive crashes, you replace the bad primary drive and use the backup to restore your computer to the original state.

For you Windows users, Norton Ghost and Norton Save and Restore provide image backups, while the built in back-up option in Windows only backs up select files you're interested in (Vista Ultimate is the only Windows version with image back-up).

If you have a Mac and use the latest version of their Mac OS X software, you already have a powerful and easy to use backup application at your fingertips. Time Machine is built in to OS X 10.5, otherwise known as Leopard, and will handle all your back up needs with ease. If you don't have Leopard, do yourself a favor and upgrade. You'll still need an external hard drive to back up all your data, though.