We talk a lot about backups, using both online solutions and external hard drives, but we know how hard it can be to actually get around to making them. Especially if you haven't yet lost any important data, there's a very strong "it'll never happen to me" voice that can be hard to quiet. Now you might finally have a good reason to take the plunge, especially if you have a 1 TB Barracuda from Seagate, as we're finding reports of dozens of spontaneous drive failures.

The model in question is a Barracuda 7200.11 manufactured in Thailand with firmware SD15 and labeled ST31000340AS. The affected drives apparently have a tendency to just suddenly stop working during their first year of use. From the reports we've read, it seems like this is an issue related to the SD15 firmware, as older copies seem to work fine, and there are none of the characteristic noises a hard drive makes when the failure is due to a physical fault.

What can you do if you have one of the problem drives? Seagate hasn't yet admitted there's anything wrong with the drives or the firmware, like it did when acknowledging bugs in the code for the 1.5 TB version of the drive. If your drive fails and is still under warranty, you can get a replacement, but it will probably be the same model drive, with the same inherent problems. For now, at least, the important thing is to finally get around to making those backups!

Backing up a whole terabyte sounds like a daunting task, but chances are you haven't come close to filling the drive yet, and you probably don't need to save everything you've stored on it, anyway. Backing up online or burning files to disc could take a while, especially if you've got a lot of data. It might be a good time to pick up a network attached storage device, especially if you have other computers on your home network or are interested in putting together a media server for your home entertainment setup - two birds with one stone.

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