RAID - If you purchase a second hard disk, of equal(Most optimal) or greater size, then with a $25-$50 PCI(Some motherboards have this) RAID controller you will allways have a Mirror of your hard disk! If one conks out on you the other will let you know, and then pick right up where the junk left off. Nowadays with 40GBs, at pricewatch.com, hovering around $50 this is a nice solution to all your backup worries! With the right level of RAID you can Copy and Strip(Speed) your hardisk across up to 4 drives! Servers do this. I think the level I suggested(For mirroring) is RAID Level 1. = )