This won't solve the communication problem, but would it be reasonable for you to take a couse on computers, or hire a professional to help you with this? If you became more knowledgeable, learned the correct terms and how to back up your info yourself, H wouldn't have to rescue you and you'd gain some confidence in the process. Maybe even doing a google search for info and reading up on how things work could help. My H is not very good with computers and we often end up frustrated with each other too. It takes SO long to explain the simplest things to him and he's not interested really, so he doesn't retain it. He gets upset because I'm not patient, and I just get tired because it's hard to understand why he isn't interested in keeping up with technology he's trying to use. It's like trying to teach a 10 year old how to use a fork. Not to be critical of you, but just to tell you how it makes me feel when we go over this time and time again. OTOH, I have no problem just doing stuff for H because it's much easier then being frustrated with each other.
BTW, zip drives might be old technology, but they work. Do you have a problem with using the zip drive, or does your H? If it's him (and you don't want to learn a new way to do things right now), yet he wants you to take responsibility for backing up your files, I'd go with the technology that you understand and ignore his grumbling until it become an entirely obsolete method.
