Back your data up people! This is something I was never really good at myself. I think I have taken like 4000 to 5000 pictures since the first kid was born 5 years ago. (That was when I got my digital camera) A few times I backed them up to DVD but it was a pain as it took more then one and then you have to store them somewhere… Doesn’t help to keep them in your house if your house burns down, does it?
No, you’re not going to hear a horror story of me losing all of those pictures. Hell, it could have happened, but it did not. No, I finally did something about it, and if you are in the same situation, you should look into it as well.
I went with an online backup service. There are a bunch out there but the one I finally settled on was Carbonite.com. It has been reviewed fairly well. It’s cheap, like $50 a year for unlimited space. It is pretty easy to setup, but you can also customize it pretty well too. I have a specific directory where all my pictures are. I just told Carbonite to back up that directory. As I move pictures from my camera into that directory, the Carbonite client you install on your machine detects that and will begin to upload it. (You can have it do it instantly or on a daily schedule.)
Great peace of mind for $50.