RE: Linux Mint Installation Tutorial - Full Install in 10 Minutes!
I destroyed Windows 98 on a laptop by doing duel boot with Linux (I learned later that the duel-boot software that came with the Linux version had a know defect) - about 10 years ago.
Then a couple years ago, a bad hard-drive sector took down my Windows XP desktop. So I hunted around for a while on the Internet for solutions, meanwhile I got an offer to recover my data for at least $280 from a friend's tech guy. So I decided to try Ubuntu Linux.
Ubuntu is very easy to install on a bootable flashdrive. And Linux is great for recovery data from my a damaged hard drive. I recovered everything and ran my computer on (or as) a flashdrive for about a year. An install of Ubuntu on a new hard drive went flawlessly.
I will never go back. Ubuntu has its quirks, but it is so stable.
I would buy a bunch of USB stick and DVD's and back up my data every weekend if I were you. You can never be too careful with digital assets.
I was thinking of going back to DVD's. I back up onto an external personal cloud drive, but I don't trust the mechanical reliability of it.
I'd worry more about their privacy intrusion. I'd encrypt the files before uploading them.
"Personal cloud" is just a silly name for a backup drive that sends data over your home wifi.