Posted on Tue, Sep. 27, 2005
	Tech Q&A TECH Q&A | BY TIM HENDERSON Prepare for a major flood by backing up your information By TIM HENDERSON thenderson@herald.com Q: Thinking of a major flood here in Florida, how can I put all my bank names and account numbers on the Internet to be retrieved after a storm? I would like a cyberspace record of my certificates of deposit and other things, without jeopardizing it. CLARE FROST, Dania Beach A: The easiest way would be in an e-mail to yourself -- assuming that you won't be checking your e-mail again until after the storm. If you check your e-mail in Outlook Express or a similar e-mail client, the mail will be downloaded to your hard drive and erased from the server. So that's no protection. To avoid that, consider a free e-mail account from any of the major providers, like Hotmail, Yahoo or Google. If you're using a Web interface for your e-mail, it stays on the server and should be safe, no matter what, until you deliberately delete it. You can attach a few important electronic documents to such e-mail as well. More experienced users may choose to put critical data up on an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site if one is available. That will spread the risk around a little bit -- you'll be OK as long as either your workstation or the server make it through a storm. If you have your own website, you almost certainly have a spot on the Internet to stash a few files just in case. Just make sure you don't put them someplace where a Web user can see them or get to them in a public directory. Those options should work in a pinch, but if you find you need a more formal arrangement to store computer data safely, consider online file storage. You can try the free service at http://briefcaseyahoo.com or search for ''online file storage'' to find other vendors. Of course, a disastrous flood might keep you away from computers for a while. But even in that scenario, you could contact someone by phone to retrieve important documents and get your information when you need it. Computer stores also sell tiny USB storage devices that can hold a lot of files. One of those, in a plastic bag in your pocket, should be safe from almost anything that doesn't kill you. If all fails and you end up with critical files trapped in soggy computer equipment, don't despair. Don't plug in a damaged computer, and don't let it dry out, either -- once it's soaked, data recovery specialists recommend keeping it wet to maximize the chance of recovering files. Same for floppy disks. CDs and DVDs should be fine if you just air dry them or wipe them with a soft dry cloth. For tips on recovering computer files and other perishable data like film and books after a disaster, see this Florida state Library and Archives site: http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/ disasterrecovery/.