THE theft of Kylie Bouker's laptop, and two years worth of lecture notes and assignments earlier this week had the potential to derail her study.Ms Bouker, a student at the University of Ballarat, had her laptop, and up to $12,000 worth of other items stolen in a burglary at her South St home on Monday.Her story prompted an offer of help, and now she is able to resume study, without having to find an additional $1300 to cover the cost of a new laptop.Yesterday BackItUpOnline directors Steve Macdonald and David Newbury stepped in to help.They donated a new laptop, and free use of their servers to ensure if another theft happened, Ms Bouker would still have access to her precious study notes."So many different people offered help, and it's just been so amazing," she said."There are so many generous people out there and you don't realise they are out there until something like this happens."Mr Macdonald said it was a lesson for others the importance of saving valuable work."It's something people don't think about doing," he said."One of the things people don't think about is how valuable their computer files are. People think if they are on the computer they are fine, but in reality they are not."The burglary happened between 10am and 3.30pm Monday. Information to Ballarat Police on 5336 6000 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.