Types of email:



You may be working with one of a variety of email programs. Some of these email programs include: Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, or web-based email such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, Excite, and many others. All of these programs have different ways to go about backing up email files.

Backing up your email:

In order to figure out how to backup your files with the program you are using, it is as easy enough as clicking on the "help" menu of the program for detailed instructions. If you want a temporary backup of a specific email file that is important, but do not have the time or means to do so at the given time, you can always back that file up by sending it from the email address it was created in to another email address that you own. For example, if the file was created in Microsoft Outlook on your company's work computer, you can simply forward that email and any attachments to your home email perhaps on a web-based server like Yahoo.

Why backup your email?

There are several unfortunate circumstances that may occur that will cause you to lose important emails. For example, you may accidentally delete the email file yourself. Or, your computer can crash due to a bad virus, spyware, or malware. When you get your computer back online, you may find that the perpetrator caused you to lose all of your files. Even simple things such as a power outage or lightening storm could cause damage to your computer, and in turn, cause you to lose important email files. For these and other reasons, you should definitely back up your important email files.

Where should you keep your email backup files?

Depending on what email program you are using, it may be capable of exporting the email files to a directory that you can later burn on a CD using a CD-ROM drive. You can also move the files to an external hard drive. If you are very particular, you can even print out hard copies of your important email files and store them someplace safe.

How often should you backup your important email files?

The answer to this question is: As often as you would like to. This is simply personal preference. If you have no significant emails one week, then you may want to ignore the process that week. However, if you get a lot of important email, you will want to consider backing it up very frequently. You could even do it daily or weekly if you choose to. Remember: the more you take care to keep your information safe, the less of a chance that you will end up with the hassle of losing it!