Remember to backup up your important files on your computer regularly. You will need an external hard drive to do this. This can save you a lot of agony if your laptop decides to die. It won’t save your laptop, but it will save your files. Here are some simple instructions on how to backup once you have connected your external hard drive:

Mac Users:

Open Time Machine. Click “Set up Time Machine” when the window pops up. Select your external hard drive to use for backups. To specify the folders to backup, click “Options”. Click “On” to start the backup.

Windows XP Users:

If you are running Windows XP Home Edition, you will need a Windows install disk to install Windows Backup Utility. To do this, insert the disk into your CD/DVD drive and open it in My Computer. Choose “Perform Additional Tasks”. Click “Browse this CD”. Navigate the folders ValueAdd –> Msft –> Ntbackup. In the Ntbackup folder, double click “Ntbackup” or “Ntbackup.msi” to install the Windows Backup Utility.

To launch Windows Backup Utility, click “Start” –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools and click “Backup”. Click “Next” then choose “Back up files and settings”, click “Next”. Choose “Let me choose what to back up”. Select the files you’d like to have backed up and click “Next”. Choose your external hard drive and click “Finish”.

Windows Vista & 7 Users:

To backup on Windows Vista and Windows 7, connect your external hard drive, press the Windows key on your keyboard, type “backup” and press enter. This will open the “Backup and Restore” utility. Choose “Set up backup”. Choose your external hard drive and click “Next”. Choose which backup option you would like and click “Next”. If you opted to select your files, choose which ones you’d like to back up and click “Next”. To backup, click “Save Settings and Run Backup”.

Linux:

Unfortunately, there is no built in backup tool in Linux. But there are many free options available. Suggested backup tools, installed through the Package Manager, include “Simple Backup Suite” and “TimeVault”.