We all know we should back-up our computers, but honestly how often does it get done? We should do it, and regularly. This sounds like advice from a dentist on the benefits of flossing, but the good news is recent changes have made it so simple and best of all you don’t even have to remember to back-up your computer.Computers are an integral part of our lives now: many of our schools require or encourage them, plus a study published by the Government in October shows 93 percent of our households has at least one computer, and that is increasing. We riddle computers with precious photos of our children and loved ones, homework assignments, and our resumes to help us find jobs almost everything important is done on a computer today.What would you do if you lost it all?It happens more often than it should. It is a fact of life that hard drives crash, people accidentally delete files, and robbers prefer to take expensive small items like laptops.Correctly backing up your computer will protected you from almost everything that can lead to losing important files. While backing up has been historically tedious and error prone, a few Internet-based companies have solved the problem so well that I recommend everyone consider switching.A new breed of back-up solutionsA few companies now offer automatic online back-up, the best of which is Carbonite (www.carbonite.com). Mozy is a similar company none are Bermuda-based, but work well here assuming you have an Internet connection. Automatic online back-up works by installing a small programme on your computer that securely and automatically uploads any new or changed file to servers somewhere in the US. If you accidentally lose a file or all your files, you can easily restore them.Carbonite charges a flat fee for a year, around $5 per month. You can back up one file or a million and it all costs the same. Once you have installed Carbonite, which is very simple, you never need to think about backing up again. It runs in the background and first will back up your whole computer then it will back up new or changed files.I encourage everyone to give Carbonite or one of the similar online back-up products a try; most offer a free trial. Finally here are a few things to consider:Ÿ The faster your Internet connection, the faster the backup or restore will finish. However since the backup runs in the background you can use your computer without concern. Your computer will not be fully protected until the back-up is complete.Ÿ On slower computers the backup process may interfere with the performance of video playback and games. You can either temporarily pause the back-up or schedule the backup for times when you don’t generally use the computer. I schedule mine from 1am to 5am.Ÿ Your computer needs to be on and connected to the Internet for the back-up to make progress.Paul Coleman has spent the last 20 years working in the IT industry. Overseas he worked for Microsoft, and locally for Logic and now Orbis Investment Management Limited.Paul also founded txt.bm He can be reached at paul.colemangmail.com