Hard drives have continued to get bigger in capacity and more affordable in price—a big benefit for the consumer. Right?

Hard drives are often the first things that die in a computer system. What’s alarming is that, in recent years, they seem to be dying quicker than the old 1 and 2 gig drives of yesteryear.

Having had a 40 gig drive fail on me, I can tell you that it is no walk in the park. There is a saying among computer techs with regard to computer data: “Its all just ones and zeros. Don’t get stressed out about it.” Easily said, but try telling that to a client that has all of his or her business files on that drive that has developed a loud tick and is no longer readable; or to grandma who has just lost all those pictures of her grandchildren.

A few months ago, a couple of my major hardware suppliers notified me that the warranties from almost all of the major hard drive manufacturers were being reduced from 3 years to one. This happened to coincide with the death of my drive. Sound scary? Well I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it might be getting worse before it gets better…

Some lucky geeks have expensive, high-tolerant RAID setups to prevent data loss. But for the rest of us, what is the solution? It doesn't hurt to repeat it again and again: keep regular backups. If you don't have a CD burner, get one. If you have a few bucks, get a DVD burner. Read The Tao of Backup to get yourself in the right frame of mind.

If you have a home or office network of two or more computers, I may have an easy solution to suggest to you. Read on...