Data recovery lab, London · Mon–Sat 09:00–18:00 020 7064 4996 info@dataretrieval.org.uk

How to back up your data properly: a simple guide

October 26, 2026

With a working backup, a failed drive is an inconvenience rather than a disaster. Backing up doesn’t have to be complicated. This guide follows the advice of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), plus a few practical tips from our data recovery lab.

1. Decide what you can’t afford to lose

The NCSC’s advice is to back up anything you value: anything you would miss if you could no longer get to it. For most people that means photos and videos, documents, email, accounts and business records. Programs and Windows itself can be reinstalled; your files can’t.

2. Make it automatic

Backups that rely on remembering don’t happen. Cloud backup services and the tools built into Windows and macOS (File History and Time Machine) can copy your files on a schedule, so the NCSC recommends switching automatic backup on wherever you can.

3. Keep one copy disconnected

An external drive that is always plugged in can be encrypted by ransomware along with everything else, and fails along with the computer in a power surge or flood. The NCSC advises disconnecting removable backup drives when you are not using them, and protecting them with a password so the data is safe if the drive is lost or stolen.

4. Check that you can actually restore

A backup is only as good as the restore. Every few months, open your backup and check that recent photos and files are there and that they open. Protect your cloud backup account with 2-step verification, as the NCSC recommends, so someone else can’t delete it.

5. Watch for early warning signs

  • A hard drive that clicks, buzzes or slows down, or files that suddenly won’t open.
  • An SSD that disappears and comes back, or shows the wrong size.
  • A NAS or RAID box that reports a degraded volume or a failed disk.

If you see any of these, back up the most important files now if the device still works properly. If it is making noises or keeps disappearing, switch it off and get advice before trying anything else.

When there is no backup

If a drive has already failed and there is no backup, don’t give up on the data. Our London lab recovers files from failed hard drives, SSDs, RAID arrays, NAS boxes, laptops and memory cards. The initial assessment is free, and you get a fixed, no-obligation quote before any recovery work starts. Call 020 7064 4996.

Source