Backing up data is something we all know we should do, but we might not know how or what is the "right" way. There is no right or wrong way; you should choose the technique that best suits your needs. Because there are so many options you can use to protect your data, this article is intended to clear up any confusion and suggest one simple, basic method to organize your data so it can be easily copied.

SJA provides every student with 1 GB of space on the file server, which is a great resource for storing backup copies of your important information. The tablets are also divided into a C: and D: drive with the idea that your documents and important files can be stored on a drive separate from the operating system in case of corruption or disk error. Ideally, you should be storing and working on documents on your D: drive in a folder hierarchy to make it easier to know what needs to be backed up. We have noticed that some students do exactly this: They create a folder called "Sophomore," and inside that folder are class folders. Once created, it is just a matter of integrating into your routine the practice of copying that "Sophomore" folder over to the H: drive and overwrite the existing one (because it is now older). Now there are two copies of your important files so if you accidentally delete your final essay draft off your D: drive, it is still on the H: drive, which can be copied back over to your D: drive.

That’s the basic but effective way of backing up you data. If you want to be a little more sophisticated and automated, there is some cool free software to help. Instead of having to manually copy your "Sophomore" folder every day or every time you change an important document, why not have a piece of software that automatically backs up your folders to your H: drive every day, every hour or whatever time frame works for you.

One program is called SyncBack.

Select Backup option.

Give the backup profile a name.

Set the source as your folder on your D: drive ("Sophomore" in our example).

Set the destination as H: drive.

Click on the Expert button to reveal other options.

Select the Advanced tab

Be sure that under the "What to do if file is in the destination but not in the source," select Do nothing, skip the file

Select the Misc. tab, then click Schedule Button

Click set password, and enter your password

Select the schedule tab

Here you can set if you want the backup to run hourly, daily and if it is recurring.

Just working on the documents stored on the D: drive is all that is necessary, and SyncBack takes care of the rest. If you don’t like SyncBack, there is another program called SyncToy from Microsoft that has similar functionality.

St. Joseph's Academy will be purchasing new Fujitsu Lifebook t730 tablet computers at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. The bidding process which began in September involved stakeholders from students to the principal and president. The Lifebook t730 will feature the new Intel Capella platform that has not even been released yet insuring everyone will have plenty of computing power for the life of these tablets. The tablets will also feature Intel wifi cards capable of 802.11n connectivity. This combined with the recently upgraded wireless infrastructure will allow clients 6x the amount of throughput over the wireless network. Other features of the tablet include:

If you haven't logged into your Google Docs account recently then you may have missed the news that Google Docs now permits uploading any file you wish as long as it is under 250MB. You have a one gigabyte limit in this space which is plenty considering most documents, pictures, and spreadsheets are under 2MB.



This is a great place to store your documents because it serves as a backup similar to your H: drive but is accessible anywhere you have an internet connection. You can automatically convert your MS Office documents if you choose by checking a box or leaving them in their native format to be viewed, downloaded, or shared. The difference being that you can not edit Office documents in the web interface of Google Docs. After uploading your files or documents, you can see what percentage of your 1024MB you're using, and get links to share or send those files to others, including easy-to-fill Google Contacts. Where did your documents go, though? They're in the "All Items" view, and can be shared, downloaded, or renamed just like a regular file. Instructions from Google can be found here.

Malware is never fun to have to deal with. I'm sure at least some of you have dealt with crazy popups, fake antivirus warnings, and altered browser behavior. While it is not necessarily dangerous in the sense that your computer will not host attacks on other machines it can however try to trick you into giving up personal/financial information. Of course your best defense against malware is to be cautious about sites you visit and make sure your browser is up to date. Online game sites, links posted in social media networks, and browser add-ons/toolbars, are all notorious for hosting or directing you to malware. If however you do manage contract some sort of infection it is in your best interest to remove these kinds of software as soon as possible and one of the best programs to do it is Malwarebytes. When running Malwarebytes it is important that you update the definition database first, in order to make sure everything will be detected and removed. After the update is complete run a FULL scan, this will take longer but will ensure your entire machine is free of malware. Some of these programs are very smart and "Malwarebytes aware" meaning it recognizes when it is executed and stops it from starting up. If this is happening it is best to try starting your computer in safe mode to run malwarebytes or alternatively put the "mbam.exe" file on a usb key and rename it to something like "sjascanner.exe" and run it from the usb key. The helpdesk is always available to help you but make sure that you are backed up in case it is necessary to re-image your machine.

Well 2010 is here and another semester has begun. For all those whose New Year's resolution was to do better in school and take better notes then Evernote can help. Evernote is a lot like Microsoft OneNote but also offers much more (OneNote 2010 will have some of these features but SJA isn't scheduled to update until 2011). It allows you to sync all your notebooks to the web. This means your notes are always backed up and are accessible anywhere from numerous types of devices. You can access and edit/add notes from all major smartphone OS's any web browser or the desktop client. Another nice feature of Evernote is the level of search-ability. Evernote recognizes text in images, pdfs, and your handwriting allowing you to locate exactly the information you are looking for. If you aren't the most organized person, Evernote is able to automatically process, index, and make search-able everything you capture. If you like, you can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks. You are also able to share your notebooks with with other Evernote users. Evernote is free although premium version is also available for a cost. Below is a video introducing some of these features.

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