How to Make a Disaster Recovery Kit

As you install Backup for Workgroups on computers throughout your company, it would be a good idea to make a disaster recovery kit for each.  Each kit should include information that would be needed should you have to restore or recreate that particular computer.

The Disaster Recovery kit should include:

1. The Windows Operating System CD that came with your computer.
2. Any boot floppy that was provided with your computer from the manufacturer.  Some versions of Windows require a boot disk to start the computer before it can restore Windows.  Newer versions of Windows, such as XP, have bootable CDs.
3. Record the Registration Key, Product Key or Serial Number for your copy of Windows.
4. Make a copy of the driver for your network card.  This may be a floppy disk that came with the network card, or a CD from manufacturer of your computer.

You should gather this information for each user and store this in a safe location.  The optimal storage would be in a fire proof safe or file cabinet.  You could store all of these components in a Ziplock bag and tape it to the side of the corresponding computer, but remember that if the computer is stolen all of that information goes with it!

Consider Taking More Precautions

While you are thinking about Disaster Recovery, you may want to think about documenting your assets for business insurance purposes.   What would you do if all of your computers were stolen or destroyed by fire or flood?  If this were to happen and you needed to file a claim with your insurance company, things will go a lot smoother if you can easily provide them with documentation proving "what you had and what it cost." 

Items to consider taking off-site:

1. A list of physical assets owned by your company, by location.  You may want to break this down into categories, such as Computer Equipment, Telephone Equipment, General Office Equipment, Software, Furniture and Fixtures.
2. Photos of equipment assets in your office.  Take photos or walk through the office with a video camera.  If you choose the photo route, you can affix the photos to paper so you can describe each asset shown in the photo.
3. Make copies of invoices to show the price you paid for each asset.  This is time consuming, but you will be very grateful that you had this all in one place and stored off-site in the event of an emergency.
4. Place all of this information in a file folder or 3 ring binder.  Label it "ABC Company Assets."  Include a copy of your business insurance policy and the your insurance agent's contact information.