Like most people, I didn't notice this at first, but I, too, rely on computers constantly throughout my day. Last week, my laptop was infected with a virus disguising itself as a character from the popular TV show South Park, but technically known as W32/Pretty.worm. After the wave of panic and fear worked its way through my body, I found that my contact database had been deleted. I quickly discovered that I was very dependent on that information being there.

Before you push your machine off your desk and send it crashing to the floor, an urge I too had to suppress, there are some new, inexpensive ways to back up and store large amounts of information using removable and portable storage that restore your data and gets your computer back on track.

Technically, removable storage refers to a disk or device that you can put into your computer, transfer information to and then remove. Then, you can take that device to another computer, or back to that same computer at a later date, and access the same information.

Removable storage started with floppy disks that held a few hundred kilobytes (k) to a maximum of 1.4 megabytes (MB). Today, 3.5" floppys are still common but there are many more options which hold much more data and are, therefore, much more useful.

Iomega (http://www.iomega.com) took the removable data industry to the next level with their release of the Zip Drive in the mid-1990s. At the time, their portable disks held 100MB of data. Now, with a new cool design and USB, parallel and SCSI versions available, they have added a 250MB version as well. And, if that's not enough, Iomega offers a one and two gigabyte (GB) disk/drive combination called the Jaz.

The Zip disks cost about $10 to $20. And, they make a drive for every situation, including 100MB internal notebook drives for $200, 100MB external, parallel, SCSI or USB drives for about $100 and 250MB drives for about $180. Jaz drives go for around $150 and $350 respectively, while the disks cost about $100 to $125.

Recognizing that people still use their old floppy disks, Imation has developed a drive called the Superdisk (http://www.superdisk.com) that uses 120MB disks and can read standard 3.5" floppies as well. In fact, the Superdisks look identical to a standard floppy. The drive costs about $130 and the disks are about $10.

I could, and probably should, devote an entire column to making and recording Compact Discs but I will just mention them as another alternative to backing up data. CD-R refers to permanently recording data onto a CD which hold 650MB. And, CD-RW refers to rewritable CDs which also holds 650MB, but can be erased and reused at a later date.

The last type of removable storage I will mention is a micro storage device known as flash media. These devices are about one inch square and only 1/8 of an inch thick. But, they are able to hold hundreds of MB of data and are constantly expanding. And, as a solid state device, it is all electric with no moving parts, making them very durable and able to continue to operate even when bumped or jarred.

Developed for digital cameras and other portable devices such as MP3 music players, they can also be used with inexpensive "card readers" as just storage devices. They vary in price but you will generally pay more for the convenience of their size and weight until they become a bit more mainstream.

In the end, only you can decide which removable storage device is right for you. Whether price, compatibility with your friends and clients or size is the determining factor, making external backups of your data just may save the day.