Tech Bit #1 by Gregg Marshall

Supply House Timeswelcomes this new Web Exclusive series by Gregg Marshall to help you make the most of the Digital Age.

100millionhard drives fail every year. I’ve had my share, including one last Christmas Eve.

When was the last time you backed up your notebook? Your home desktop? Your work PC?

500 gigabyte external USB drives are selling for $99 to $129 on sale (Amazon has one

LaCie Desktop Hard Disk 301285U 500 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive). That’s enough to back up a notebook and most people’s desktop(s).

My favorite backup software is CMS Products’ BounceBack Professional ($79,www.cmsproducts.com). While Windows has a built in backup program, BB Pro can create a backup drive that can be simply installed to replace a failed drive (obviously you can’t put a 3.5” hard drive into a notebook).

What Ireally like about BB Pro is it’s the ultimate “nagware.” You tell it how often you want to back up and it will nag you to plug in that external drive and do your backups.

So really, when was the last time you backed up?

Gregg Marshall, CSP, CPMR, is president of Rep Connection Inc., a consulting company that works to help maximize the effectiveness of manufacturers and their professional outsourced field sales forces (reps), especially in the areas of electronic commerce and partner results optimization. He is a past president of the Association of Industry Manufacturers' Representatives (AIM/R) and has served on the Manufacturers Representative Education Research Foundation (MRERF) and Institute for Professional Advancement executive committees. He was chairman of the AIM/R Technology Committee, the AIM/R EDI Task Force, and a member of the American Supply Association Center for Advancing Technology Steering Committee. He can be reached by e-mail at gmarshall [AT] repconnection.com, by phone at (303) 475-6634, or visit his LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/greggmarshall.

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