This should be a no-brainer, but we still hear horror stories almost every day about precious data that's been lost forever. Whether it's a once-in-a-lifetime guitar solo or some totally awesome vacation photos, you want to be able to access your data any time you want, right? More and more instruments are including memory card ports, so here's a few tips to keep your precious data safe.

• Back up your data. Almost every device that uses memory cards will have some way of connecting to a computer (usually via a USB port) and there are also lots of inexpensive multi-format card readers that plug into your computer's USB port. Don't put this off! Back up regularly!

• Always buy name brand memory cards, whether they're CompactFlash, SD, Memory Sticks, and so forth. Yes, they're a bit more expensive, but it's impossible to put a dollar value on the data you're saving on them.

• When not in use, always store the cards in their plastic cases. Even a tiny grain of sand can cause the card to be unreadable. Resist the urge to just drop it into your pocket "just for now."

• While it might be convenient to use a memory card with a huge capacity (one gig or more), consider the fact that if that card becomes damaged, all the data is gone. The odds of four 256MB cards all going bad are pretty much zero.

• Always leave the card in long enough to make sure all the data is saved. If you yank a card out just a millisecond too soon and the last little bit of data never gets written, odds are good that the card will be unreadable. Even if you think all the data's been saved, still give it another second or two to be safe.

• Back up your data. Yeah, that one is definitely worth mentioning again.