I keep mine on good old fashioned reliable paper! I keep them in a binder, each in a plastic wallet. I find it easier to browse through paper than electronic files - and they're less likely to get lost, corrupted, overtaken by new technology!

I do a double back-up......I print hard copies, put them in plastic sleeves, and then in 3 ring binders. On my laptop, I REGULARLY (read that every week) do a backup onto an external hard drive. When you think of all of the $$$$ tied up in machine embroidery patterns, quilt patterns, e-books for machines, I cannot afford not to have everything backed up somewhere else. If my laptop crashed I would be out of a small fortune.

My sewing space is small and I take several BOM and have alot of patterns. I'm scanning in all patterns and making a CD for them. If you take your pc to Best Buy or a place like that they should be able to get your stuff off of it for you. All shouldn't be lost; just needs to be restored. If you get another pc they can transfer it to the new one and then you can back it up. Good luck and don't give up hope.

All these thoughts are good, but you also need to have a backup somewhere besides your house in case of fire, flood, etc.

I have 3 of the external hard drives. I keep all of my embroidery designs, photos, patterns etc on them. I have 3 copies of all of my designs. Just in case. They are awesome. I don't keep any designs on my computer as it fills up the hard drive on it... makes it to darn slow!!!

Take your computer to a service place and ask them if they can recover your data from it. it may not be gone even if your computer won't work. And, yes it is a good idea to back up anything you intend to keep. We use an external hard drive to back up our photographs and important data.

I print hard copies and keep them in binders. I go through them when the mood is there and find I no longer want half of them........works for me. The ones I have saved on my computer, seldom are accessed. I tend to forget about them.

I have Norton Anti-Virus and part of the service is automatic back up. See if your anti-virus program has this. Mine is set to autmatically back up on a schedule. Yours may be backed-up and you just don't realize it. It's worth a try...

I make hard copies and put them into clear plastic sleeves (available at all office supply places) and into binders. They don't take up much space and I've got an index & dividers so that I can find anything quickly. I do save some on my computer, but transfer or copy the folder onto an exterior hard drive, or you can use a jump stick.
Hope this helps!
MaryAnna

I believe one cannot have too much paper but it needs to be organized. I just hate looking for something that I want. I use view binders with the title inserted in the spine for patterns, quilting notes, and completed projects, etc. I do the same with all major purchases of appliances, household repairs and other major purchases (DH's tools and my sewing machine manuals for example). The proof of purchases along with the manuals and related papers are placed in plastic sleeves in the binders.Technology is constantly changing, but paper lasts a longer if properly stored.