Here are some ways to protect irreplaceable items from fire and water. Be warned that most are not fail-safe, so it's best to use several systems:
- Photos: Online photo galleries are everywhere on the Internet. You upload your photos to the site, and many of them offer free storage space if you buy prints from them. Some will even scan old negatives for a price. And there your photos will remain, even if the originals are lost.
But check out the site before using it. Some services have suddenly gone out of business, and the photos disappear along with them.
PC World has a detailed review of the big players on its Web site,
pcworld.com
. Among those reported on are
kodakgallery.com
,
shutterfly.com
,
photos.yahoo.com
,
snapfish.com
, and Wal-Mart Photo Center at
walmart.com
.
- Safes: These are good for items including jewelry, important papers and photos. You can spend $30 to thousands of dollars, depending on size and the scope of protection. There are safes that protect against burglars, those that protect against fire and those that do both.
Inexpensive fire chests that are about 11-by-14 inches can be purchased at office-supply stores for about $30. But they usually protect for a limited time in a fire, usually a half-hour at most. The sturdier safes can protect for four hours or so. Safes are rated for their exposure rates, drop impact and explosion vulnerability. For example, Class A safes protect paper documents for up to four hours at 2,000 degrees.
- Data backup: When is the last time you backed up your computer files? There's a variety of ways now, including online storage sites and USB flash drives that are so small you can wear them around your neck or put them on a key chain.
If you are really cautious, stash copies with friends and relatives for safekeeping. Prices of the flash drives range from $9 to hundreds of dollars, depending on capacity and functions.
Online storage sites are not without their headaches. There are server crashes and privacy issues, and they can always go out of business. Some of the popular ones are
iDrive.com
,
Xdrive.com
and
elephantdrive.com
. Some offer limited free storage; for more storage, yearly fees are all over the map. Find reviews at
pcworld.com
for 17 of them.
- Safe-deposit boxes: One of the safest places to protect valuables and documents. For a minimal fee, you can keep the originals of important papers, photo negatives and hard drive backups in the box and use copies at home. It's a good place to hide grandma's crown jewels, too.
Most banks have the deposit boxes in various sizes. Costs vary among institutions. For example, Wells Fargo offers a 5-by 3-inch box for $25 a year, and a 10-by-10-inch one for $125.
Source:
pcworld.com
,
whathappensnow.com
, and data backup Web sites
