If all goes well, this will be the last blog post I write – on my current office computer.

I’ve used this eMachines PC for more years than I care to remember; it’s been at least five, maybe closer to six. A new hard drive and a few other essential upgrades have kept her alive and kicking through hundreds of deadlines, dozens of Twitter chats and four blogathons.

Early in 2011 I started feeling like I was driving a horse and buggy after everyone else had moved on to a Model T. The old PC was slowing down (and yes, I know, that’s a sure sign of imminent hard drive failure). Some mornings I waited minutes – minutes! – for Outlook and Chrome to open. I resolved that before the year was over, I’d upgrade. Besides, I reasoned, how could I sample the software and apps I write about if my computer couldn’t handle them?

Then I got busy with deadlines or vacation or something I had to do for my kids and put it off.

Finally – finally – on Dec. 31, I made good on my promise. After some research, consulting with my in-house tech team (husband and son) and visiting several area computer stores, I bought a new computer and monitor. It’s shiny, super-fast set up I’ll say more about in another post.

Switching computers isn’t as easy as unplugging one machine and plugging in another, at least not for someone like me who hasn’t leaped entirely to using web-based software. Before I can use the new machine, I’ve got to upload Word and other programs I use regularly and transfer hundreds of megabytes worth of data files. But by this time tomorrow or Thursday, I should be all set.

Say what you want about New Year’s resolutions – it’s great to know that even though it took 365 days, I made my goal, and as a result, I’m starting off 2012 at a blistering pace.

Oh, and my resolution for 2012? Not to put things off to the last minute.

What are your resolutions for 2012?

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.