Ho do You say "earlier this year"
as in "earlier this year I lost all my documents because of a hard drive failure."

Question

Ho do You say "earlier this year"
as in "earlier this year I lost all my documents because of a hard drive failure."

Answer

今年に入って、〜。

Answer

I think it's 今年のはじめ(kotoshi no hajime).

"earlier this year I lost all my documents because of a hard drive failure."
「今年のはじめ、ハードディスクが壊れて、ドキュメントを全部無くしてしまいました。」

Answer

今年は、。。。～たことがある。
That already means "earlier". You can add in もう　somewhere, but it depends. You picked a hard one.
今年、日本に行ったことがある。
You need to use the entire form to get the meaning you want.