What is the most effective way to protect data on a hard drive?

Backing up data regularly is considered the most effective way to protect information on a hard drive because it creates copies of your data, ensuring that it is safe from loss due to various threats such as hardware failure, accidental deletion, or malware attacks. Regular backups allow you to restore your data to a previous state if something goes wrong, providing a safety net for your information.

While using a stronger password is important for protecting access to the data, it does not prevent data loss from physical damage or system corruption. Defragmenting the drive helps optimize performance but does not directly protect data against loss. Compressing files can save space and may marginally obscure data, but it does not safeguard the information itself from being lost or damaged. Therefore, consistent backups are crucial for effective data protection.