Industry observers have noted the recent proliferation of online backup services, many of which offer free storage of a few gigabytes. Most, like Xdrive, offer more storage for an annual fee.

Andy Deeren, lead shop technician at Rent-A-Geek, said one advantage of online storage is the files would be accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Those files would also stay safe if something like a house fire destroyed a personal computer as well as the external hard drive.

But Deeren also pointed out a disadvantage of online storage: Files can only be backed up at the speed of your Internet connection. Retrieval of many files at once could also take hours.

And some people just aren’t comfortable with handing someone else their data.

“I have an issue with having my whole hard drive out there,” Johnson said.

During transmission, he said, files might be vulnerable to “sniffing” by a third party looking for personal financial data or other information.

Whatever solution they choose, it’s essential computer owners get into the backup habit. The proof hangs on the walls of Rent-A-Geek: Data loss is not a matter of if, but when.