A computer backup can be described as the action of storing the files in your computer on a medium that is different from your hard drive (an external medium). The main reason behind computer backups is the protection of the files: in case the computer’s hard drive is damaged, the backups will save the files you had on the drives and will make it possible for you to restore them, as soon as your problem is solved.

Until recently, the easiest way to back up was by means of floppy. The floppy disks were those who stored the information in case anything happened. Floppy are no longer available these days, especially since the new generations of computers, laptops mainly, are no longer equipped with the floppy drive. In this case, another media of storage are requested. Besides, in order to store everything one may have on a computer, it would take millions of floppy disks, given that one floppy can only store 1.4 megabytes.<

CD-ROMs on the other hand hold a lot more. They can store up to 800 megabytes and, what is even more interesting, they don’t get infected by viruses or any other sort of malware program. DVD burners also are very well received by those who need to back up their computers. The problem with these storage devices is that they are a little more difficult to write onto. In order to burn onto CD-ROM or a DVD, you must have installed on your computer a special burner. There are computers who have CD/DVD readers, but they don’t have burners. Then you have a problem. If you happen to have a burner (or buy a computer equipped with it), you must learn how to burn onto CD/DVD. The computer will guide you through it. Is not that difficult.

You may back up the information on your computer by using a USB removable device. Unfortunately, these computer jumpers act like part of the memory, thereby they can get infected by viruses. Therefore you must be very careful. There are also the memory cards you can use. If the files you need to back up are not so many you may use sending them to email. It is the easiest way and so far the safest.

Any device you choose, it is important to perform computer back ups. If not for safety at least for speed. Backing up files on removable media will allow your computer to operate at a higher speed.

Generally speaking, it is known that a computer is a complex device, which operates with information. Several decades have passed since the first computers used by man appeared, but from the first computers and until today, all the computers are operating based on meeting several key tasks:

- processing the information

- saving the information

- transfer and communication of information

As it’s seen, the computer is just an instrument which the user uses in order to process, save, transform and to circulate useful information in their work and life.

Processing information

A computer is basically a calculator, and the first impression about its basic role is that is it used to calculate. In fact, what it does is process information, and this means that it transforms useful information into other useful information, from a form to another. The processing involves a lot of mathematical calculations executed by the computer, and many other operations.

The information with which the computer is permanently in touch can be split in 3 categories:

Data – are those information which are processed. For example, a computer can display in which day of the week is a certain calendar date (represented by day, month and year). For this, it has to receive the calendar date, after which is it processed and will display the day of the week corresponding to that date. The introduced calendar date and the displayed week day are data with which the computer operated in this process. The text documents, images and even sounds, are also from Data category, with which the computer operates and  whose handling and processing represent mostly the purpose for using the computer at a desk activity.

Programs – represents a special data category, which contains algorithms according to which the computer will process data. The computer is a simple electronic device, but according to the programs it uses, it will be able to process the data received in different ways. For example, in the previous example it was necessary for a capable program to exactly calculate which in which day of the week is a certain calendar date, considering all the calendar’s details (leap years, the days of each month, etc.), according to a well established mathematical algorithm. The programs are made from instructions which are executed, one by one, until, starting from the introduced data, the final result appears. For a computer, these instructions are encoded in a machine-code, a programming language used rarely even by the experts. The speed with which the instructions are executed, reached very high today, that when we push a key, one letter appears to the screen instantly