Once upon a time, computers were only used by big companies. To protect their information, they used their big budgets to buy expensive backup machines and employed people to maintain them.

Fast forward to today, and think about the amount of information on your own computer. Most of us don't have a backup machine, yet we'd be devastated if we lost the digital photos of our daughter's first Christmas. Small business owners are impacted even more – imagine losing all of your financial records and your outstanding customer invoices. So how can you prevent losing your precious information without spending the earth?

One answer has emerged as technology has grown. High speed broadband internet connections are now available to most homes and are more affordable than ever. Computer hard disks continue to increase in size and reduce in price. Enter ‘online' or ‘remote' backups to the scene.

In essence, an online backup copies files from your computer, across your internet connection, to a backup computer at another location. You may need to run some software on your PC so you can select which files are backed up and how often your backup happens.

Security features may also be available to ‘encrypt' or code your information so it cannot be easily stolen and read by someone else during the copy process.

Some benefits of an online backup solution are:

•  There's nothing for you to remember – Once your backup is configured, it can run automatically on a regular basis. You don't need to start a program or insert a blank tape.

•  There's nothing else for you to buy – As the file copy happens across the internet, you don't need to buy a tape backup machine or blank tapes.

•  Your files are somewhere else – If anything happens to your computer or premises, you'll still have access to your files which now also exist at another physical location.

Your local Computer Troubleshooter can explain any other features that may benefit your particular situation. They can also recommend an online backup provider and give you an indication of the costs involved, depending on how much information you need to backup and how often.