Survey shows one in four don't know how to back-up files

Nearly half of all New Zealanders don’t back-up their precious information despite admitting some of their most treasured possessions are only stored on their computer, according to a survey* by PC Tools to coincide with the release of PC Tools Simple Backup software.

“Some 42 percent of the people we surveyed said they don’t back-up, with one in four saying they didn’t know how, while another one in ten admit to being overwhelmed by the features and options available” said PC Tools spokesperson, Lauren Young.

“Surprisingly, it is the Internet generation (those under 25) who were least likely to back-up files. For such a tech-savvy bunch these results were a genuine surprise as are the reasons for failing to back-up. Of the people who don’t back-up their files almost half (48 percent) have just never got round to it, while 18 percent don’t perceive there is a real risk of losing anything.”

“The number of people online who have lost personal files or information is almost identical to the number who don’t back-up at 43 percent. While, these aren’t necessarily the same people, it demonstrates that the risk of data loss is real and significant” Lauren Young said.

Some 15 percent of the people who said they’d lost computer files said they’d lost everything. Most lost photos and videos (33 percent) and personal files and documents (27 percent). Eight percent lost study or university files.

“The time involved in replacing lost data is significant, not to mention the cost in terms of replacement. And there are some e-valuables that simply can’t be replaced,” said Ms Young

“Most New Zealanders (88 percent) have photos stored on our computers, including important family moments and special birthdays. Alarmingly, given the poor back-up figures, 57 percent don’t store these memories or milestones anywhere else” Lauren Young said.

Other files commonly saved only on computers include media files (39 percent), other important photos (33 percent) and important work documents (20 percent).

While broadly the same proportion of men and women were guilty of not backing up, a greater proportion of women confessed to not knowing how, being overwhelmed by the range of back-up options and features available, and to being too busy. Men were typically less likely to see a risk and never getting around to it.

“The good news is that backing up your data is a whole lot easier and more efficient than most people realise,” Lauren Young said. “Fully automatic, continuous back-up solutions are now readily available and there just isn’t any reason to go through the heartache and stress of having to replace the precious and valuable info on your PC or laptop or, even worse, losing it forever.”

The survey* also revealed:

v People aged 45-54 were more likely than other age groups to have lost files (51%).

v Those aged 55+ are most likely to back up (63%), while those under 25 are the least likely (49%)

v Photos of important family moments considered are the most important files stored on
people’s computers, ranked highest by 24% and in the top three by 61%.

v Half (52%) of New Zealanders consider losing the contents of their computer hard drive
worse than having their car broken into (19%), no holidays for a year (18%) or losing their
cell phone (10%).

For more information or to download the PC Tools Simple Backup back-up software, visit http://www.pctools.com/simple-backup

PC Tools Simple Backup NZ$39.99 (12 month licence)

* The Omnibus survey was conducted by Perceptive Research in January 2011. The survey was an online survey of n=1,000 New Zealanders, representative of the population and has a margin of error ±3.1%.