Do you need to backup your fonts?

Submitted by HelpMeRick.com on December 31, 2005 - 12:48pm.

One topic that I never mind elaborating on with my customers or on the radio is backup. Many people who listen to the show or know me, understand that I'm not a proponent of backing up your entire hard drive. Total hard drive backups really waste space and time in my opinion.

Instead, I recommend that you backup everything on the computer that YOU created:

  • Address book

  • Favorite Internet sites

  • Documents (any type, including word processing, spreadsheets, publishing files, etc.)

  • Financial data (Quicken, Quickbooks, etc)

  • Pictures

  • Email (if you need to save it)

  • Program installation files you downloaded from the Internet or updates to programs.

If you do create many original publishing documents like newsletters, flyers, cards, etc, you might also want to backup your fonts folders. Fonts are the different type faces or looks of the text you create on your computer. If you upgrade programs or computers, you may end up with a different set of fonts than you are used to and your saved documents will not look the way you originally had designed them to look. Follow these steps to back up your fonts:

  1. Double-click the My Computer icon

  2. Double-click your "C" drive (hard drive)

  3. Double-click the Windows folder (click "yes" if it asks you if you really want to view the contents)

  4. RIGHT Click on the Fonts folder and copy it to your backup CD or flash drive or simply add this folder to your automated backup program.

If you get a new computer or need to restore your existing computer, you can copy these backed up fonts back into the fonts folder so that you can have use of them again.

For those of you who like to experiment with new fonts, here are some sites where you can download some fonts for free. Keep in mind that like a painting or book, some fonts are copyrighted by the artist of company who produced them and you may need to pay to use them. Most of the fonts on the following web site, however, can be downloaded and used at no cost.