I planned to write this two-part blog post last week, but life intervened. My husband and I have yet to set up Time Capsule, Apple's wireless backup device that works with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. It's on the to do list for tonight (sometime after putting the kids to bed and before packing lunch boxes). Looks like I'll have to save Gossip Girl on the DVR for another night.

An  update, too, for those who are interested: I was able to reset my password on Shutterfly and happily found all of my photos from years ago were still there! So despite the great PC crash of two weeks ago, my faith in Web-based photo sites has been restored. I must point out, however, that photo sites are not a substitute for proper backup and storage of digital photos at home.

If you still haven't started backing up your computer regularly, here are some quick tips for getting started:

1. Purchase an external hard drive immediately. LaCie is the hard drive I use and I have found it to be quite reliable, you just plug and play with the included 1-click software. 250GB should be more than adequate for a personal computer with an average amount of music and photo files. The LaCie connects using USB or Firewire ports. Using Firewire speeds the backup process dramatically.

2. Like everything else, there's no guarantee your hard drive won't fail someday. If you read various online forums, you'll see that some users have four copies of critical data: hard copy, DVDs, hard drive, and online. This seems like too much work for me, but I do think it's a good idea to print all of your treasured photos. Compile them in a book twice a year. No need to worry about getting all fancy, the most basic photo book will do. Shutterfly's 5 x7 casual book can accommodate up to 100 pages. The first 20 pages will cost you $9.99 and .50 for each additional page.

3. Set a day and time to backup your computer regularly. Apple's Time Machine does this automatically, provided you are always connected to your external drive. Since I work on a laptop, and don't like to be tied down to a desk, I plug in my external drive every Friday afternoon. Time Machine backs up only the files that have changed since my last backup.

4. Consider an online backup system, which is a great option if you are someone who needs to access files from multiple locations: home, the office, or on the road. Check out Mozy,  Box.net, digitalbucket.net, or Apple's MobileMe for Mac and iPod devices.

If you suspect your computer drive may be crashing, review these tips from DriveSavers. And keep their number handy. If they're good enough for Sarah Jessica Parker, they're good enough for you.

They say recovery is never easy, but you can come back again. After all, we learn from our mistakes.