Just to recap: DSLR users sometimes forget that with imaging technology the way it is, all of us now are forced to be closer than ever to our computers and those of us who normally abhor our little silicon thingamajigs will simply have to have the moxie to learn how to use them.

At this point, serving that need requires a minimum expenditure (up to you to determine just what minimum means) and learning about what your computer should be for it to serve well. Without a computer, you can’t maximize the fact that digital photos can be edited and without properly storing your images, your photos can easily be wiped out forever.

Arming your computer (Which means arming yourself, really)

Have someone help you with putting together your storage hub. It may seem like a simple case of just installing drives but, take note, if you take our suggestion, you will have the boot drive, the first data drive and the second data drive along with your optical drive (either a CD or DVD writer). Those four things suck power like crazy and it would be good to have a power supply that can handle all of them while keeping your CPU and motherboard happy. Ask those who know more than you do to be safe. If your drives choke because of a lack of power, they can’t do their job and that’s defeating the purpose of backing things up. Find your neighborhood geek and make sure you befriend the guy/gal. That person is the one you run to when things go wrong.

The computer shop? Why waste an entirely good afternoon going somewhere if a perfectly capable person is right next door? Really, while some people will charge for looking at your computer problems, others don’t. The enjoyment of getting things to work is still, surprisingly enough for some. (It was to me.)

It’s also this person who will give suggestions on what stuff to buy to get you going with archiving and even making the whole camera-computer tandem working better together.

Laptop user, you say? No real problem though it’s now really imperative to back up everything. With laptops having space for only one drive internally, you have your data lumped up with your operating system and your programs. Some people are so attracted to really big hard drives on their lap-heaters (it’s actually amazing that our laps don’t yet resemble cheap smoked ham because of the heat some of these things generate) that they pretty much dump every image onto that hard drive.

Two scenarios, make that three, make for some really scary situations:

1. Your hard drive fails requiring you to ask for a replacement drive from your manufacturer. The drive is replaced but the photos now only exist in your mind.

2. Your computer gets stolen. There are more and more laptop thefts and this is often because people don’t take the necessary precautions when using their laptops in public. Don’t sit near a door so that anyone who even thinks of stealing your beloved silicon-based machine will have to pass through a maze of coffee drinkers just to get out the door. Next, don’t leave the thing behind even if you have to take a leak. C’mon. You can put the thing to sleep, stuff it in your bag and then head for the john. You do lose something to mark your chosen table with but that’s much better than losing your computer. Take note, thieves are smart. They do know which laptops will give them a thicker wad of cash. Many of these guys and gals have really nasty and very expensive habits that their dads can’t or won’t just pay. Oh, and don’t be the dope who puts a laptop in an obviously laptop bag or knapsack or leaves the combo in backseat of a car. It’s a good idea to put it under your seat or, even better, in your baggage compartment. Oh, and if you’re a Mac user, don’t announce it to the world by putting your Apple sticker on your rear windshield. Seems you’re inviting, nay, daring, people to steal your stuff.

3. Your computer falls victim to an accident. Yes, hard drives and computers can often survive a drop but what about those cases wherein someone accidentally pours water, orange juice, kapeng alamid (supposedly really good), etc., on your little bundle of joy? Yes, it does happen and your hard drive may already be drowned. Yes, the platters inside can have their information read but that’s expensive. This is yet another reason you should befriend your neighborhood geek. You’d be surprised at what they can actually do.

So what we’re really getting at is purchasing some external hard drives. There are various choices but suffice it to say that most products by Seagate and Western Digital are most commonly used by many pros. You have a choice of buying the bare drive and then purchasing an enclosure for it. Another option, which more and more seems the better choice, is to buy a pre-built external drive made by the two mentioned companies.

Why does this seem to be the better choice? If you buy a bare drive and an enclosure, you have to put these together yourself and if you handle a small screwdriver like a sledgehammer, better let the factories in Taiwan and China do their jobs. Besides, it’s surprisingly just around a Php500 price difference sometimes between doing it yourself and getting one that’s pre-built and comes complete with a warranty.

Most external hard drives do come with some backup software so be sure to find out how to use it so that the whole process becomes almost automatic and invisible to you. If you’re unfamiliar with the software, play with it using dummy data or stuff you can afford to lose. Try to do some backups with the dummy data just to get you familiar. If this thing is supposed to save your skin in the future, best to see if it actually does the job.