Like most people with a first generation Ipod touch, I was feeling a little left out with the cool features in Version 3.0. Not to mention it costs us a cool $10 but its free for everyone else. Heres a simple way to upgrade your Ipod touch without paying Apple a cent.

How to Upgrade or Update iPod Touch to OS 3.0 Firmware For Free

1. Download and install iTunes 8.2 or higher version.
2. Download iPod Touch 2G OS firmware 3.0 Apple Device Software Update IPSW file, First gen Ipods HERE and Second gen HERE
3. Plug in and connect the iPod Touch to computer.
4. Run iTunes 8.2 or higher.
5. Select the iPod Touch from Devices list.
6. Optional but recommended, take a backup of the iPod in case of accidental file lost.

7. Now there are two ways to update iPod Touch. For user who want to clean and fresh upgrade the iPod Touch, without retaining any existing songs, musics, videos, movies, apps and other media or data files on iPod Touch (mean you will be losing all files stored on iPod Touch), follows these steps:

1. In Windows environment, press and hold Shift key and left click Restore.

In Mac OS X system, press and hold Option key and left click Restore.

For user who want to retain and save everything that has been uploaded and stored on iPod Touch or ensure that the media is untouched (not losing any files), follow these steps instead:

1. On the iTunes main screen, there should be 2 options: “Check for update” and “Restore”. Click on Check for update.
2. A web page showing the iPod Touch OS firmware 3.0 features and offering option to buy for $9.99 will be loaded and shown. Click on Cancel.
3. iTunes will return to the previous iPod Touch main page. However, the “Check for update” option has now been change to “Update.
4. In Windows environment, press and hold Shift key and left click Update.

In Mac OS X system, press and hold Option key and left click Update.

8. Locate and select iPod Touch OS 3.0 Apple Device Software Update IPSW file downloaded in step above.
9. The update process will start. iPod may reboot a few times. Do not disconnect iPod Touch until iTunes has completed updating iPod Touch.
10. Once upgrading is done, the iPod Touch will be on OS firmware 3.0, for free without any cent been paid.
11. Optionally, if you have choose to restore iPod Tunes to firmware OS software 3.0 at factory default, iTunes will offer option to either create a new iPod or restore it from backup. For user already created a backup of iPod, just restore the date files to upgraded iPod Touch.

Note: If there is an error when iTunes attempts to recognize iPod Touch, just unplug and plug the iPod back in again.

Originally found on mydigitallife.info

43% of people lose irreplaceable files every year.

The price of hard drives have hit rock bottom. The amount of storage you can get on one hard drive is unreal. 5 years ago people couldn’t have imagined the size of hard drives now, not to mention the amazing prices.  With that being said, lets take a look at a few options to help you back up your data.

The 3 main groups of data backup are;

• Online
• Redundant
• External drives

Taking a closer look at each, we will determine the differences and try to find the right fit for each situation.

Online

Online backup uses the Internet to move your data from your computer to an off-site location. Most companies will provide this service and include a small program to automatically backup your data. This is a nice option in case of your computer being lost, damaged or destroyed. Lets say your computer burns up in a house fire. Your data would have been moved to a separate location for you to retrieve later.

Carbonite – $54.95 a year

• Free Trial
• Unlimited backup space
• Small program on your computer for automatic backup
• Secure
• File recovery is only a few clicks.
• Mac and Windows

Carbonite is easy to setup. When installing. it has visual and voice instructions. Once installed you basically forget it. It will run when your computer is idle to keep from slowing your computer down. Carbonite is a great option if you want dead simple data backup.

Mozy

• 2 gb online backup free
• unlimited backup 4.95 a month
• Mac and Windows
• Secure
• Small program for automatic backup

Mozy doesn’t offer a free trial like Carbonite. Instead they offer 2gb of free backup. This is enough for most home users.

Dropbox

• 2gb free, 3gb with referral program more space can be purchased
• Sync files between multiple computers in real time
• web based access

Dropbox is a different kind of backup. Dropbox basically sets up a folder on your computer that syncs online. You can also sync the folders between multiple accounts. Easy to use, fast and secure drop box is one of my favorite tools.

Redundant backup

Just like it sounds, your data gets backed up in multiple places. This is the best way to make sure you don’t lose any data. The only problem is a fire could take out all your data because its all in one place.

Raid

Im not going to get into raid options or talk much about it. Raid is highly used for redundant backup. However, its not the easiest to setup keeping a firm footing in the geek realm. Read more about RAID HERE

DROBO starting at $499

• Total backup
• Redundant across multiple drives
• Easy to manage
• Software included
• Automatic
• Use your own drives

A DROBO is sorta like raid. It saves data across multiple hard drives. Unlike raid you don’t need to set anything up. You can use any hard drive size, make and model you want. If a drive goes bad, the light turns red. Pull out the old drive and replace with a new one, the DROBO will do the rest.

External Drives

• Cheap
• Fast
• Easy

External Hardrives have been around for many years. They are a great option and available all over. You can get HUGE externals for almost nothing. They typically don’t have a software option for automatic backup. However, I like toysync from Microsoft. It will automate the process.

Please post any questions in the comments section and ill do my best to answer them.