Looking after devices and the data on them
The maintenance that saves people: a backup arrangement that actually restores, a sane update policy, and the proper way to erase a device you are selling or passing on.
Backups, updates and erasing a device before it leaves your hands are the unglamorous jobs that decide how bad your worst technology day turns out to be. Nobody enjoys them, and most people put them off until the laptop is stolen, the phone goes in the sink, or an old tablet is handed to a stranger with every photo and saved password still on it. Looking after the data is the part that matters, because the hardware is replaceable and the photos are not.
The order is not arbitrary. First set up a backup arrangement you have tested by restoring something, because a copy nobody has ever restored from is a hope rather than a backup. Then settle which updates go on immediately and which can wait, so security fixes are never the thing you postpone. When a device is finally leaving, wipe it properly rather than dragging files to the bin. And if you are rethinking the software as well as the hardware, free and open source alternatives are worth a look before you pay for another subscription.
A backup drive in a drawer is only a backup while it can still be read. How long an SSD keeps data without power sets out JEDEC's 1 year at 30°C rating, the retention table behind it, and why the viral 7 days claim describes a worn out drive in a hot car.
Articles in this hub
- Backups that actually work: the 3-2-1 rule in real lifeWhat cloud sync does not protect you from, a simple backup plan for a normal household, and the restore test that proves the whole thing works.
- Software updates: which ones to install now and which can waitWhat is really in an update, why security patches are different from feature releases, and how to update without breaking your working setup.
- Wiping a device before you sell it, properlyThe order of operations that removes your data and your accounts, why a factory reset alone can leave a device locked or linked, and what to do for each device type.
- Open source software for people who are not developersWhat open source actually means for a normal user, where it is genuinely better, where the trade offs bite, and the programs worth trying first.
- Twenty thousand photos: a backup and sorting system that holdsA photo setup that survives a lost phone, a cancelled subscription and twenty more years, without a weekend of sorting.
- Do Windows 10 updates stop in October 2026?Consumer ESU now runs to October 12, 2027. Every end date in one table, the three ways to enroll, the European 60 day rule and who is left out.
- How long do deleted photos and files stay in the cloud?Google Photos cut its trash to 30 days in September 2026. Every deletion window for Google, iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox and Samsung in one table, and what ends it early.
- How long does an SSD keep data without power?At least 1 year at 30°C for a worn out client SSD, under JEDEC's JESD218 standard. The full retention table in weeks, why the 7 days claim is wrong, and what to do.