Survey Indicates Dangerous Backup Practices

Acronis, a major vendor of backup software, conducted an online survey of the backup habits of home users.  Out of the 6,091 North Americans that completed the survey, nearly two-thirds (64 %) of users back up their hard drives just every two to three months or less frequently.  This is astounding considering that 80% of the participants said they have experienced some sort of data loss or recovery.  The results of the survey also reported that 81% of users had to reinstall their computer operating system and software applications.  Within that percentage, 48% reported that the reinstallation process took more than four hours.

Many individuals back up their computers every week or two, but users should be aware that more frequent backups are necessary if information is constantly changing and is irreplaceable.

Senior Director of Acronis, Robert Thaler, emphasized that users must evaluate their unique situations and create backup schedules that match the importance of the data.