A computer question...

[goofy4tink]

I'm not all that proficient when it comes to my computer. I lost a ton of stuff (photos, documents, etc) last year because I didn't back 'em up. Okay, lesson learned. I took the computer to our computer guy..he cleaned it up, and got us a stand alone thingie that our stuff automatically backs up onto once a week. So..now it would seem that there is no more room on our 'thingie' (sorry I can't remember what it's called). So, dh asks the computer guy..who in turn says, bring it in. Now, I really think there is an easier, cheaper solution than bringing it in to him. But, I can't figure out how to get rid of the stuff that's in there so it can continue backing up.
The backup only backs up anything new...if it's already been backed up, it doesn't get backed up again. Right??? What happens if I delete stuff (if I can figure out how the heck to do that in the first place), from the backed up area, when the backups continue? Won't it be just as full then, since it will back up everything that is already on my computer???
This just boggles my little pea brain.
Anyone have any thoughts or advice as to what I need to do here??

 

[Macca1111]

I think you need a new thingy. The thingy is your external hard drive - do you know how much memory it has? I got a 600 GB external hard drive for my little laptop that only has a 150 GB capability, so that it wouldn't get too full. I assume from your description that you have a Mac, and that Time Machine is making the backups...if that's the case I don't think there's any way to clear it without seriously messing up what you have backed up, at least not on your own. Sorry!

 

[goofy4tink]

I think you need a new thingy. The thingy is your external hard drive - do you know how much memory it has? I got a 600 GB external hard drive for my little laptop that only has a 150 GB capability, so that it wouldn't get too full. I assume from your description that you have a Mac, and that Time Machine is making the backups...if that's the case I don't think there's any way to clear it without seriously messing up what you have backed up, at least not on your own. Sorry!

Nope, a PC. I think you're right. I need a new 'thingie' aka external hard drive. When I go to the area it's located, it says...'9.46MB free of 8.78GB'..no clue what that means. Alls I knows is that my last backup stopped due to no more storage space. Guess my computer guy thought he was planning ahead and that I would be in every year in order to get a new one. Yeah, right.

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=WDH1U10000N

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=728 (manufacturer's website)

http://www.genie-soft.com/products/genie_timeline/default.html

A WONDERFUL combination.

 

[Carl]

8 gigs is not much now-a-days. Make your next hard drive much larger (300 or more.) Hard drives are relatively cheap now.

 

[Macca1111]

I agree with Carl - 8GB sounds like something you use for a few files, not to back up a whole computer. My 600 GB drive was under $100 last winter. And 9.46MB would not be enough for the Rossini Overture to L'Italiana in Algeri MP3 I just put on my computer - that file alone is 9.5MB for an 8 minute song. (Just to give you an idea)

 

[goofy4tink]

Hmmmm...wonder what my supposed computer guy was trying to do. If I have an automatic backup, every week, it wouldn't take long to fill it up then.
So....do I just unhitch the existing external hard drive and plug a new one in?? That seems a wee bit to easy. But I will be getting one with more room on it. What happens to the stuff that's already been backed up, on the existing external hd?? Does it get backed up again when I get a new ext. hd?? Sorry for all the questions, but I'll be danged if I go ask the idiot who sold me the what I have now...seems to be a bit concerned with repeat business, at my expense.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I built a 1tb raid for backup, and do an interval backup. plus I use software that images the entire hard drive, so that if the drive fails, I can restore to a new drive without having to reinstall the OS and programs. I re-image about once a month and delete the previous image.

it sounds like he set up the most basic of back-ups that comes built into a windows OS, pictures and documents. And it also sounds like he did not set it up to overwrite the backup, thus using your available space.

you can also set (if using windows xp, etc.) the Hard drive to compress the data, saving space on your hard drive, and backup.

by the way, there are programs that can recover "deleted" data, as long as the hard drive has not been reformatted.

 

[Macca1111]

If you have a program that automatically backs everything up, then you should just be able to plug in the new drive, set that as where you want to back up to (I think you might have to change that yourself or it would keep looking for the old drive, hopefully it may just be smart enough to figure that out itself) and it will get everything. My external drive died this summer and since it was still under warranty I got a replacement for free. When I got the new one, I just plugged it in and the program was smart enough to know it needed to start again. Remember that first time will take awhile as it's getting everything, and then the backups should be quick. The only reason that you would need data off the old drive is if there is something that you used to have on the computer but don't currently that you would want to save (something that you accidentally erased or realized that you now want). Then you would probably want to restore those things to your computer so they can be included on the new drive. Otherwise you can probably just clear it entirely and use it as a place to store certain things, just not everything on the computer - maybe important documents, probably not pictures or songs unless you just have a few.

 

[goofy4tink]

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I built a 1tb raid for backup, and do an interval backup. plus I use software that images the entire hard drive, so that if the drive fails, I can restore to a new drive without having to reinstall the OS and programs. I re-image about once a month and delete the previous image.

it sounds like he set up the most basic of back-ups that comes built into a windows OS, pictures and documents. And it also sounds like he did not set it up to overwrite the backup, thus using your available space.

you can also set (if using windows xp, etc.) the Hard drive to compress the data, saving space on your hard drive, and backup.

by the way, there are programs that can recover "deleted" data, as long as the hard drive has not been reformatted.

When I go into the 'backup and restore' area, it tells me that only new or changed files are backed up...so I'm hoping that the system didn't automatically just backup everything, 100%, each week. I do have a lot of photos though. May be time to put them on a disc rather than storing them on the computer.
Man...who knew there was so much to learn here. Even more confused now. But thanks for the imput everyone. Looks like I need more guidance than I thought.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you have a program that automatically backs everything up, then you should just be able to plug in the new drive, set that as where you want to back up to (I think you might have to change that yourself or it would keep looking for the old drive, hopefully it may just be smart enough to figure that out itself) and it will get everything. My external drive died this summer and since it was still under warranty I got a replacement for free. When I got the new one, I just plugged it in and the program was smart enough to know it needed to start again. Remember that first time will take awhile as it's getting everything, and then the backups should be quick. The only reason that you would need data off the old drive is if there is something that you used to have on the computer but don't currently that you would want to save (something that you accidentally erased or realized that you now want). Then you would probably want to restore those things to your computer so they can be included on the new drive. Otherwise you can probably just clear it entirely and use it as a place to store certain things, just not everything on the computer - maybe important documents, probably not pictures or songs unless you just have a few.

Well, I guess we're going to see just how smart my computer is!!! Thanks...we'll see how it goes.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

When I go into the 'backup and restore' area, it tells me that only new or changed files are backed up...so I'm hoping that the system didn't automatically just backup everything, 100%, each week. I do have a lot of photos though. May be time to put them on a disc rather than storing them on the computer.
Man...who knew there was so much to learn here. Even more confused now. But thanks for the imput everyone. Looks like I need more guidance than I thought.

hehehehehhee

don't feel bad, I hve worked with computers since the late 70's when it was all manual input!

my best advice to people is to get "computers for dummies" or "Windows XP for dummies" or "Vista for Dummies" or whatever OS you are using!

they are really helpful and give you a no-geek instruction on how to do something.

as an example, you can de-frag your computer to make it run faster, and so forth, or compress the hard drive.

I started using them as a quick reference years ago, still have my "DOS for Dummies" and "Wordperfect for dummies" etc.

you will be suprised on how easy it is to manage your computer assets and data with just a few commands and mouse clicks!

(no, I don't get a kick-back from those books! Hehehee!)

 

[goofy4tink]

Hey...anything call 'de-frag' can't be all bad!!!! Must get a book for Dummies.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

No wonder you're always drinkin' the RUM GP. All this 'puter talk is makin' my head hurt.

I'm with you G4T -- I don't have clue one.

 

[JR6ooo4]

first, what is the program you are using for backup.

sometimes the files are saved to the external hard drive with funky extensions. You might need the program to retrieve them.

8 gigs is ridiculously small. I have that much memory in my phone! I would look for something in the range of 100-500 gigs depending on your budget.

Mikeeee

 

[BunsenH]

8G sounds like a thumb (flash) drive rather than a hard (disk) drive.

How big is it physically?

 

[My_3_Mi_Princesses]

You can do both, keep doing the backups and keep a copy of your pictures on disk. I have two copies of my pictures on DVDs, one copy is at home and one copy I keep at my work. The second copy I keep at work just in case of a natural disaster (flooding, fire whatever) to my house.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Hey...anything call 'de-frag' can't be all bad!!!! Must get a book for Dummies.

sorry, geek talk for "defragment"

it refers to the fact that many segments of programs are put on various sectors on your hard disk drive (HDD) and the more scattered they are the "longer" it takes to seek the next segment. usually not a biggie, unless you are multi-tasking (running more than one program at a time) then the processing time increases.

all defragment does is to put all the "pieces" of a program together on your hard disk so that it is quicker to access the next "sector" where the data is written. (that is about as non-geek as I can explain it) don't even want to get into the c/h/s data and so forth.

like I say to DW, "it makes the pretty picture show up faster"!!

hehehehehehe

 

[goofy4tink]

8G sounds like a thumb (flash) drive rather than a hard (disk) drive.

How big is it physically?

Physically? About 10"x6"x2". Says Coolmax on the top. I think I may have been taken advantage of. Live and learn. You guys have been a great help. Think I'll be copying my photos to DVDs in the future...as well as over on photobucket and Kodak..they already saved me a ton of heartbreak when I lost a ton of photos that were stored, but not backed up, on my harddrive. Thanks a ton for the help..you guys are awesome.

 

[jsmith]

if the device is that size-i think you are judging your tech un fairly-go back and look at that capacity again-thats a pretty good sized external drive and i would guess that its 80 gb not 8. if your backing up once a week, depending on the size of your hard drive you could easily fill an 80gb drive in 6 months or so. You can also do online back ups that back to a space away from you computer. External hardrives can fail and you can loose your back ups-i have had brand new terabite drives go bad. this is a good reason to hate the trend toward digital photos. prints dont get lost when your computer fails.
Anyway-i dont think you have been taken advantage of but you can alway take the computer to another technician to find out.