At my old newspaper, the main frame computer that ran all the newsroom writing terminals used to routinely freeze at 4 p.m., right when reporters were on deadline. When it happened, everyone popped up from their cubicles like Punxsutawney Phil on GroundHog’s Day. If you were lucky, whatever part of the story you’d written was still there once the system came back online. More often than not, everything was lost and you’d have to start over.

Newsroom mainframes are a thing of the past. Not so computer crashes. Which is why it’s a good idea to have a crash plan, or what IT types call a disaster recovery scenario. A crash plan doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re working on a document, save often. Use the automatic back up feature found on programs like Word. Schedule regular backups, either manually or through an online backup service.

You can read more in my story, How to Deal with Data Loss, just out at YourSecurityResource.com, a Web site that’s all about protecting your home or work PC or laptop.