I eagerly poured over job columns in newspaper. Yikes, every job required Microsoft Word. To get another job, I needed to learn a new computer skill. So what? There are loads of people "in same boat" in this ever-changing world. If they can do it, so can I.

First, I had to decide how! Group classes didn't work for me. At one, I got left behind - simply because I didn't grasp one little point and wasn't brave enough to admit that I, apparently, was only one who hadn't "got it". At another, I actually knew more than others and felt frustrated listening to stuff I already knew. One-on-one training would be better, but too expensive.

My computer-whiz niece offered to help. She sat in my computer chair, took control of my mouse and went zap, zap, zap. All kinds of things appeared and disappeared on screen at a fast rate. During all this activity, I stood behind her chair feeling quite dazed. Finally, she said with a smile "That's how you do . . . whatever it was she was trying to teach me (I still don't know)". Her smile was replaced by an incredulous look when I said that she had lost me after second zap. Needless to say, I didn't pursue her kind offer any further and, as a result, we are still best of friends.

Computers Businesses and individuals alike have all grown to rely on computers. The reliance is never more apparent than when something happens to horrid little box that makes our lives easier. We expect computers to react a certain way, in certain situations. It nearly always comes as a surprise when beloved little box, know as a computer, refuses to boot up. Probably even more shocking, is dawning that we've neglected to backup or prepare for unforeseen disaster that has just been thrust upon us.

Regardless of number of times you have experienced dread of being unable to access information trapped in god-awful computerized contraption, we are always invariably unprepared.

The reality of it is that computers, not only contain moving parts, but they like other machines, they are prone to failure at some point in their lives. Not only can hardware failures occur, but viruses can also corrupt data making it impossible to retrieve. Regardless of litany of words used to bully box into behaving, truth is that only offence is a good defense.

So how do you prepare for a computer tragedy?

Prepare for Worst In structuring an offense it's important to realize power of reinforcements: backups are invaluable and will save countless hours of shameless degradation. Be sure that you backup data and files on a regular basis, there are a number of tools that will automate process.