Recently, my resident computer technician (aka my Geeky Sweetheart – I am so lucky) attempted to install more RAM in my aging computer so it might operate a little more nimbly (you know, processing Geritol).

No go. Not sure why. Reasons are unimportant to the story.

What is important is what happened next: upon restart with old RAM, monitor displayed completely wacky colors. We couldn’t decide for sure if it was the R or the G or the B that was missing – but whatever the combination was, it was sickly.

And that sort of thing makes one wonder what else is going wrong inside the box that holds your online business (nail biting moment there).

Thankfully, I still had my data and by the time I had backed everything up again (just to be sure, even though I already do it every day), the problem resolved itself.

Huh, we both said, scratching our heads while feeling grateful. (Shopping for a new computer is not something I want to be doing right now. But, Geeky Sweetheart really wants me to buy a new computer, so this whole thing began with me saying, “Don’t you dare drop it on purpose!” When things did go wrong, he was one surprised but conflicted man.)

I don’t pretend to understand how that was possible anymore than I understand how jets are able to fly. Computers, planes – it’s all voodoo. Yeah, I know the air above the wings is moving at a different speed than the air below the wings blah blah blah. Just because Bill Nye the Science Guy says it’s so doesn’t mean I really believe it.

Working theory: we kinda froze something with the canned air in the process of removing the astonishingly huge dust bunnies (what Gary Larson once referred to as Dust Rhinos) from the underside of the machine. When it warmed up – all was good again.

Anyway, my point is this: you never know what might happen next. This is your livelihood, so…

Back. Up. Your. Data.

This is one of those crucial bits of maintenance you can’t afford not to give your attention to.

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Okay – true confessions – this is actually a reprint of something that happened last year. (And I still use that aging computer.) But my point remains as true as ever. And if you were nodding your head reading this, saying to yourself, “Yeah, I should really work on that. I could have had the same close call.” – now’s your chance.

Join me and technology-to-english translator Wendy Cholbi for a special Bite the Candy event all about backups and upgrades. More than the know-how, you’ll get the focused time and support you need to get the job done. Finally. It all happens next Thursday. Check out the details here.

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