Prevention

The golden rule in digital is to always have at least one backup. We don't believe in one storage medium over another. Companies often don't last as long as their warranties. Discs can get scratched, flash drives can get corrupted and servers can crash just as a box of photos/videos can go up in flames or get ruined in floods and hurricanes.

Many backup options...

Using a backup power device rather than a surge device alone can help prevent damage to your hard drive and safely shut down your computer.

You can use software to backup to an external hard drive or to an online service. Setting up drive mirroring in Windows is another useful tool to always have an up-to-date backup of your data.

You might keep a copy in a safety deposit box.

Online storage services like Carbonite are great too.

DVDs and USB drives are relatively inexpensive. Get a few and put them in different locations if you don't want to use an online service.

Digital is awesome - it's convenient, helps you share and enables all sorts of fun and gifts. But if you want to keep it all safe, never rely on a single copy. Always back up!