It’s every frequent flier’s nightmare: you’re on the road, and your laptop dies. But play it smart, and you can avoid a major crisis.

Carbonite is a downloadable software that backs up everything on your PC or Mac.

It operates in the background without interrupting your work.

Software called Mozy offers a similar service—and they offer 2 gigabytes of backup space for free.

The drawback is the full program costs about $55 a year, which can add up fast.

A more affordable option is to buy an external hard drive that connects to your computer with a USB port.

A good rule of thumb is to get a drive that holds four times the amount of data you want to back up.

Another option is an SD drive, which can hold up to 32 gigabytes.

It’s the same small card you see in digital cameras, but instead of storing photos, you’re storing documents.

If you’re planning to travel with the backups, look into an SSD drive, which is memory-only storage, so it’s a lot less fragile.

Bottom line: there’s no excuse to not backing up your data.

And if you’re a technophobe, bring your laptop to a professional who can recommend the best option for you.

For more arty hotels, don’t miss Travel Gadgets & Gear.

Looking for more advice? Click here for more Daily Travel Tips.