The Most Efficient Method of Backup?…

[Gameactive]

Alright, it’s about time I got back into playing The Sims 3. The only problem is, I still have a bunch of junk from previous play sessions that I’m too stubborn to just delete, even though I’ll probably never use any of it again.

So before I go and burn through a bunch of writable discs, does anyone else have any cost-efficient methods of backing up their data? I’ll only be backing up the saved games, screenshots, and recorded videos, since everything else is either outdated or impractical. I have several somewhat-advanced archive tools at my disposal.

[RaiaDraconis]

Do you have one of those USB drives? (thumb drive, jump drive, whatever you want to call it) I use one of those personally. You can get a 32GB one for relatively inexpensive.

[Gameactive]

I do, but I use it for other things and it’s only 8 GB. I was planning on getting an external 1 TB drive for backup eventually, I just can’t afford one right now.

[Skilletnap]

Maybe look into http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skydrive then? That is just the Wikipedia page for it, so you can learn more about it. But, in essence, it's storage. You could hide your Sims files here, and -provided you remember your Live username and password- access them anywhere. I would still suggest another USB key, a second one labelled SIMS or whatever pleases you, and a 1TB external HD would do the trick as well, but as you said; they are a little pricey. Just one or the other.

You could always save videos and pictures to photobucket or something similar, and just hold onto the save files? Remove them from the Sims 3 folder, and to another place on your computer where you can find them, but they aren't at risk of being deleted accidentally. If you have a habit of being forgetful, open up a notepad file, copy and paste the text in the address bar into it, and save it in your sims file (or to your desktop) as "LOOKING FOR SOMETHING? READ THIS FIRST." or something equally eye-catching that will draw you in, so you will read it and find the location of your other Sims files on the occasion you feel like playing them.

[Gameactive]

I thought that SkyDrive required a subscription, or at least a newer operating system than XP.

YouTube lets you download videos that you've previously uploaded as *.mp4 files, so maybe I should just mash all my recorded videos together in Premiere and upload them as a private video. Or maybe public, that'd at least allow them a greater use for them than sitting on my hard drive. DeviantArt probably won't help in any similar ways with the screenshots, though.