You can sharply reduce the bad effects of most technology problems by adopting a single surprisingly simple precaution: .

You've undoubtedly heard this advice before, but even computer users who have suffered crashes, malware infestations, and other data-killing disasters often find it hard to get started, fearing that regularly scheduled backups are too tedious to perform or too complicated to set up.

None of this is true today. Myriad solutions and systems have simplified the task of backing up, whether you're dealing with one computer or a dozen. Here are some strategies you can start with.

This is the simplest way to perform backups, but it's suitable for people with just one or two PCs. Plug a high-capacity USB hard drive into your computer, and set up a backup program. --Windows 8 will add to the mix--and copious options exist online. If you arrange for automatic backups, so much the better.