Yesterday’s ShootLikeAPro newsletter covered digital image archiving. Whether you choose to use CDs, DVDs or an external hard drive, you need to backup your image files. Hard drive crashes are almost inevitable and you’ll be heartbroken if you lose everything.

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The other part of the equation is software. Readers of this blog know I am a fan of Picasa 2 from Google. It’s a great freebie and version 2.7 includes backing up to CD or DVD. The coolest thing is that it remembers which files have not been backed up, so it’s easier to stay current.

That’s where most people stumble. It takes discipline to make sure you do regular and consistent backups. That’s why I suggest an external hard drive as your backup system. Most of them come with software to do the backups for you. Set a schedule in the software and tell it what folders to backup and you’re all set. Just be sure to verify that your scheduled items works.

You’ll never have to worry about backups again once you have a good system in place.