Backing up data seems straightforward enough, but it’s easy to overlook critical steps that ensure your data is safe, secure, and easily retrievable. Here are the top things to consider when drawing up a data backup plan. 1. Defined goals and objectives First and foremost, you need to define the point of your data backup plan. That includes identifying the critical data to backup, how frequently you might need to access the data, and where you intend to store your backups. You’ll also want to allocate a budget to your data backup plan for buying things like external drives, or to subscribe to a cloud service. 2. The right storage option Choosing the right storage option can play a crucial role in how effective your data backup plan is. From cloud storage to external drives, there are a few different options to consider. For the best results I recommend a combination of cloud and physical backup options so that if you lose one, another is easily retrievable. Here are the benefits of the main types of backup media: Local disks and external drives: Great for quick backups of small amounts of data. Network Attached Storage (NAS): Provides a centralized option for backing up large amounts of data. Cloud based solutions: Cost-effective offsite solution, but completely dependent on the internet. Further reading: The best external drives: Top picks in portable storage 3. A wide scope for your data You should include a wide scope in your data backup plan. By that I mean you’ll want to identify all the locations you have data to back up from in all your devices, from your PC to your phone. By extending the scope of the data to include, say, your emails as well as your PC files and your photos, you’ll have a wider base for recovery if the worst happens and you lose everything. 4. A regular schedule for backup You should ensure you implement a regular schedule for backup, so every day or every week, or even real-time. That means, if you do lose data at any point, your backup will have up-to-date versions for you to retrieve. Then all you need to do is stick to the schedule. You’ll also want to implement a system of administration that lets you track the backup jobs so that you have a record of when your latest backup was and what data was backed up. Further reading: The best Windows backup software Pexels: Jakob Zerdzicki 5. Automation Backing up everything yourself can be laborious and be challenging to stick to a regular schedule. Instead, you’re going to want to automate as much of it as possible. Many cloud services/backup programs and even external drives run software that can automate the process for you. For example, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB External Hard Drive can be set to automatically back up using the drive’s Time Machine software. Further reading: Best online backup: iDrive, Backblaze, Livedrive, and more 6. Encryption Encrypting your data ensures that if it falls into unauthorized hands, it’s unintelligible or restricted. Use well tested algorithms to encrypt sensitive information and make sure the encryption keys are stored separately from the backups to enhance security. Pexels: Tara Winstead 7. Regular testing and versioning Your data should be partially or fully restored regularly to ensure recovery can be effective in the event of data loss. You should also evaluate your plan as a whole and ask yourself, “If I were to lose all my original data today, would I be able to restore it?” Some services/backup programs also have versioning, which means several versions of your data is saved in different locations. That way if one is corrupted, another version will be available to download at a moment’s notice. Related content Backing up your backups: Advanced backup tricks for cloud storage Hard drive, SSD, or USB flash drive: Which portable storage is right for you? Drives, images, and virtual disks: A guide to storage terms & concepts How to turn any SSD into a DIY external drive Read...

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Welcome to The Full Nerd newsletter—your weekly dose of hardware talk from the enthusiasts at PCWorld. Missed the burning topics on our YouTube show or fresh news from across the web? You’re in the right place. Want this newsletter to come directly to your inbox? Sign up on our website! I have a plan for Ryzen 9000G chips. That is, if they come to be. It seems likely given that we’ve seen successive generations of AMD desktop APU processors—and recently, a bit of juicy speculation. The talk derives from a dig into the recent AESA 1.2.7.0 update for 800-series motherboards. Users on X/Twitter think there are hints at the coming of Strix Point for desktop.  If this projection ends up holding true, some believe we could see as many as four 9000-series APUs hit the market, with both Kraken Point and Strix Point represented. The rumor mill is pegging these as upgraded processors across the board. The vision: At the bottom of the stack, a 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 3 9300G, with 6 RDNA 3.5 cores. In the middle, an 8C/16T Ryzen 5 9500G with 8 RDNA 3.5 cores. And at the top, a 12C/24T chip with 16 RDNA 3.5 cores. (Videocardz.com thinks it’d be named the Ryzen 7 9700G, but its core count suggests a name more like 9800G or 9900G.) For comparison, the 8300G was still stuck on 4C/8T, with just four RDNA 3 cores. The 8700G capped out at 8C/16T with 12 RDNA 3 cores. I’m excited. I love the idea of a simple, easy suggestion to give people building gaming PCs for their kids. I love the possibility of squeezing a usable gaming machine into a sub-5L DIY PC. I love a lower power bill that I min/max more than my character builds in games.  (San Francisco’s electric rates aren’t Europe-high, but they’re still pretty expensive. The LA metro area is cheaper, which I find crazy.) Right now, there aren’t many options for budget discrete graphics cards. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry I’m also aware I’m the very problem that I worry about.  Whether or not these chips land, the budget end of discrete graphics will still be stagnating. Between tariffs, economic anxiety around inflation, and other factors, the focus on the high end has shrunk prospects for new, powerful, and affordable discrete cards. If Gordon were here, he’d probably accuse me of needless hand-wringing, but look man, things look depressed, if not outright grim. If companies think we’re willing to accept scraps, what inventive do they have to pile the table with affordable performance? Still, I take quiet delight in the prospect of high performance in limited space. I am ready to benchmark a set of Ryzen 9000G chips at 1080p. I think it’s worth recognizing the bounty of these tech times, even as future prospects feel dry. How cool is it that performance is so high that a CPU with integrated graphics is enough to game on?  That’s the silver lining for me—that even if our prospects seem thin, we have enough performance to still see us through the lean times. I hope. In this episode of The Full Nerd In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith chat about a possible upcoming launch of AMD Ryzen 9000G APUs and Windows on the next Xbox console. Turns out, I get philosophical when discussing these topics—not only did I end up riffing more on the idea of 9000G chips (ahem), but I had a lot to say about Xbox, PCs, and how well they blend together. Also, if you’re normally an audio listener, I recommend peeping at least a little of the video feed. Adam committed hard to his Halloween costume this year, as teased by the picture below.(Yes, that is Will riding a chicken. And yes, Willis made the most unexpected sly comment about that costume during the video pre-show.) Willis Lai / Foundry Missed our live show? Subscribe now to The Full Nerd Network YouTube channel, and activate notifications. We also answer viewer questions in real-time! Don’t miss out on our NEW shows too—you can catch episodes of Dual Boot Diaries and The Full Nerd: Extra Edition now! And if you need more hardware talk during the rest of the week, come join our Discord community—it’s full of cool, laid-back nerds.  This week’s incredible nerd news Japan’s enduring love for physical media seems downright sensible this week after Microsoft’s Azure disruption—which came just days after the Amazon AWS outage. I found out because I couldn’t load the Xbox.com website. I would have been much more frustrated if I’d needed access to cloud content. Also low-tech but possibly high impact? Mushrooms as memory. Yeah. It’s so cool. veloci_official / Reddit Friendly BitLocker PSA: It’s worth verifying your PC’s encryption status right now—and also if you have the encryption keys saved. I’ve had odd BitLocker experiences myself, so I took this Redditor’s tale as a good precautionary reminder. Thank you, I needed the layperson version: I appreciate how this Tom’s Hardware article explains the reason for the Amazon AWS failure in terms like “Old Plan” and “New Plan.” I truly don’t know how folks who manage DNS-related systems sleep at night. A whole new take on flight sims: One of the top comments on Redditor veloci_official’s method of starting up their PC speaks deep truth. Yes, it indeed is the level of defense needed against cats and their nonchalant disregard for power buttons. We complained about a $1,000 Xbox, but…: It cost fifty cents to produce AMD’s clone of the Intel 8080 in 1975. It sold for $700. (That’s about $3 and $4,300 in today’s dollars, respectively.) Margins for computer hardware definitely aren’t like this any more. Sam Altman implies AI will eliminate jobs that aren’t “real work”: Sure, I can see how someone might think human writers and artists are equivalent to LLMs that produce slop based on their work. Dead internet theory, here we come. Leeches can get stuck WHERE? I mean, score one for medical troubleshooting, but also this is nightmare fuel. (Timely for Halloween, I suppose.) I’m now wondering when researchers will re-create GLaDos as a potato.Ohio State University Low-tech as high-tech: I love the idea of mushrooms being the future of technology. In space. Yep, plain old shiitake mushrooms as memory chips, possibly chilling in the radiation of solar flares and the like. Sus, AMD is rebadging 2022 Ryzen processors as “new” chips: Other companies have done this, but the practice of renaming Zen 2 and Zen 3+ processors as Ryzen 100-series CPUs feels murky. More games run on Linux now. I’m still not switching yet: These numbers are fascinating to dig into—almost 90% of Windows games are said to run on Linux, according to ProtonDB. But look at how many run well. (I think Will has more to say on this…) Thanks, Steve: Gamers Nexus always does us a solid by answering our burning questions. I’ve sincerely wanted to know how Yeston makes their waifu graphics cards. (I would also take a video on how they made that cat chassis, please and thank you.) Medical science FTW: Not everyone creates effective antibodies to ward off viruses. The idea of isolating broadly effective antibodies and then injecting them into a person’s DNA for replication (to help individuals better fight viral infections) is rad as heck. I thought I was in r/MaliciousCompliance at first: This anecdote from Reddit is why we always confirm instructions before executing a plan. (Also I can’t stop staring at the picture with dread—I live in earthquake country.) Catch you all next week—I’ll probably have a candy hangover from my usual November 1 discount haul. My future self will have no regrets. Also, how is it already time to change our clocks back? ~Alaina This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld. Read...

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