If you keep stuff on your hard disk, BACK IT UP!! And keep hard copy in a separate place. One day your hard disk will crash or someone will steal your computer or your house wil burn down ... Heaven forbid, but it might happen (esp. the first two!)

Commercial outfits of all kinds (not just musicial ones!) have a "disaster plan": what if the firm gets burgled/attacked by terrorists/set alight/crashed on by an aircraft/flooded/struck by lightning? You back evertyhing up REGULARLY and keep the backups on site in a fireproof safe AND off site in a secure place.

You can get software cheap enough, or just do it off your own bat: keep TWO lots; do each once a fortnight on alternate weeks ... that way, even if one backup gets destroyed, you have no more than two week's stuff to replace.

Steve