Help with computer backups

[KBecks]

I'd like to have a better system for computer backups. I'm thinking about an external hard drive (about $120ish?) OR something like the Dell Datasafe online backup subscription ($40/year).

I haven't been good about making backups except for loading our family photos to CD and putting them in a fireproof box. I kind of like the idea of doing the online subscription because then I don't have to worry about equipment failures.

I'm hoping to fully backup all my documents so I can reformat my HD whenever I feel the need to start fresh and clean, or if I ever switch to another computer, etc.

Any experiences or recommendations?

[caheinz]

Get whatever it is that you find easiest to use. If you can find something automated, all the better -- you won't need to remember to do it.

Online has the benefit that if something happens to your house, where your hard drive and computer both are, it's not likely to also happen to the online site. On the other hand, you can probably get more space for the money with a hard drive (not sure about that, but guessing that since you buy the hard drive once it would end up being cheaper in the end... but just guessing.)

Getting a system set up of any sort is a great first step, though!

[KBecks]

Thank you. I'm going to go with the online because when I started to research the hard drives, I started to feel unsure of how to decide which one to get and worry about getting the setup right, so I think the online will be all-around easier to get started with and worth a try. I hope it works out well for us, and it will definitely give us peace of mind. We have gone to a guru twice to save our files that weren't backed up... thankfully we got all our baby photos but it wasn't cheap, so I have a clear need to find a more regular solution. Everything I've looked into has auto backups and I think that will be great too!