Protect Your Digital Music and Photos

By Jennifer Martinez

While going digital with music and photos has its obvious benefits, it also creates a new set of vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, it only takes one moment to forever lose your virtual keepsakes and music collections. However, there's a lot you can do to secure these assets.

Step No. 1: Get organized 
We use a mix of technologies to download media files. To confuse things further, most operating systems come with default music and photo folders. Therefore, coming up with a system for categorizing and storing files is crucial. Fortunately, most music, photo and video programs give you the power to customize where your files go upon download. Use that option, along with your computer's directory and file system to categorize, label and file away all your digital media files.

No. 2: Secure your files
Once you've organized your data, it's time to focus on security.

• Password-protect your files. The first line of defense is the security built into your operating system. Use basic password protection to protect your desktop, as well as the folders where you keep your music and photos.
• Turn off file sharing. Use the option to turn off file sharing whenever you're on a public network. If you have a wireless network at home, use all your router's security features to prevent a passer-by from breaking into your network and onto your computers.
• Install a high quality virus protection program, along with a good firewall. Virus protection is especially important if you share a lot of media files with friends and family. Email and instant messaging are a notorious means for spreading viruses and worms.
• Protect against power surges. A power surge can fry your computer and destroy your data, while a power loss can disrupt downloads and backups, and cause your operating system to fail. To protect against power surges, plug your computer into a surge protector. If you want to keep your systems up and running when the power goes out, consider buying an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Step No. 3: Back up your data 
Even with the best security and practical precautions in place, systematic backups are key to preventing data loss.

• Choose a backup media. The first step is choosing a backup media that's practical and convenient for you. If you've spent the last few years buying out the iTunes store, you may want to consider a high-volume external drive. However, if you just get an occasional digital photo from the grandchildren, a pen drive may do the trick. And there are all sorts of options in between. From buying online backup space to burning your own CDs, you have a variety of backup media options.
• Back up your system. Once you've settled on the ideal medium, decide how you want to go about backing up your music and photos. While you could do everything manually, you may want to consider using a backup program. A fully automated backup tool gives you the power to designate the time, place and frequency of your backups. Some of the more sophisticated programs also help you recover in the face of a system crash or a virus attack.

Our computers are now homes for virtual record collections and photo albums. While digital keepsakes come with their own set of vulnerabilities, they're also quite easy to protect. It just takes a bit of organization, some vigilance and the right tools. It also takes time. However, when you consider the irreplaceable value of the things you're protecting, you'll probably agree it's time well spent.