A quick note with a couple of precautions to take with your computers as Hurricane Irene begins her journey up the East Coast.
If you have to evacuate or not, you should consider doing the following:
* Before you evacuate or as the storm approaches if you're staying put, unplug all cables, wires and cords, including the power cord, from your computer and other electronic devices (TVs, games, etc.). Even if you have a battery backup, unplug -- the battery backup will only keep the computer on for about 10-20 minutes before the computer suffers a hard shutdown.
* After unplugging, put some type of waterproof cover over your computer equipment if possible to avoid damage from leaking roofs. And if your computer is on the floor or not very far off the floor, move it to a tabletop or upstairs if you have an upstairs until the storm passes.
* If you have data you don't want to lose and you're not backing it up regularly, back it up now. Use a flash drive if available or a blank CD to back up priceless photos, files, etc., and either put the backup in a safe, dry place in the house if you're staying put or take it with you if you're evacuating or leaving.
* If you have important data like tax or financial documents stored on your computer, back that up, as well.
Basically, unplug and back up anything you don't want to be damaged or lost to the storm. The data and files are the only things you won't be able to replace. Computers and printers and cameras can be replaced.
That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Now, off to secure my own premises.
Good luck to everyone.
