Why I say, "Backup! Backup! Backup!"

Backup! Backup! Backup!
For several years, I've had that three-word message in my signature line, on this and several other forums. It's not there, just for the fun of it, but because it's something I thoroughly believe in, out of necessity, for the proper and SAFE operation of a computer.

You just never know, when the download of a seemingly benign program will in fact download a virus or spyware that can render the Security Software on your PC, impotent or even missing.
This very thing happened to me just today, when I was looking for a program to display my Windows Registration Key. I tried two different programs, and the first one installed Chrome, without my permission and the second one dumped a whole bundle of spyware on my C: drive.

The result of all that, was that my "Super Anti Spyware" program was basically deleted, and two other security programs were deactivated. Windows Defender and System Restore were disabled as well.

So what to do? Well, since I do practice what I preach, I booted up my PC with my "Ghost" boot CD and ran my Ghost-Restore program, to restore a C: drive backup Image File, that I made just a few days ago. I usually backup to my 1TB USB 3.0 external hard drive.
Using an external USB drive is quite a bit slower than using an internal hard drive, but it's considerably safer as well. But, in less than 30 minutes, I had my C: drive completely restored to a virus and spyware FREE version. Now I just need to update my Security Programs, and browser, check my email and go on.

Once I'm sure that every program is fully up to date, I'll make another backup of my C: drive, to my 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard drive.
That's why I say, "Backup! Backup! Backup!"

Cheers mates!
TechnoMage

+1! I have a rather complex system of backing up our three computers using 8 pancake platter-clatter hard-drives, Macrium Reflect and Acronis True Image; ergo I also believe and practice Backup! Backup! Backup!