External hard drives

[torinsmom]

How do these work? Are they easy to connect/disconnect from a computer? If your computer crashes, does this crash too? I am looking for a way to back up pictures and documents and not sure if this is the way to go.

Marsha

 

[mrsv98]

We just bought a Free Agent external 250gb drive for less than $100. It comes with software that makes backing up very easy. I backed up all three of our machines and then out the hd in our fireproof box. I plan to back up once a month or so but then we don't have a ton of stuff. You can leave it attached to a single computer and schedule regular backups. It is strictly for storage and does not have an operating system so it won't "crash" per se but could become corrupt and unreadable.

 

[DMickey28]

I bought a 500gb Free Agent before Christmas for $80 at Best Buy. It works great with every computer I have hooked it up to EXCEPT my laptop. I can't get it the computer to pick up the HD. I use it for pictures mostly. It was super easy and has the installation for itself on the HD so you don't have extra disks to tote around.

 

[Disney Doll]

You plug it in to one of the ports on the side and everything backs up onto it. The you discoonect it.

If your computer crashes and it is not connected, then everything on it is fine. If your computer crashes while it is connected, I don't know what happens, to be honest...perhaps one of our computer-savvy DISers can answer?

We have one. We connect it to the laptop every once in a while to back the stuff up. It takes about a minute, if that. One of my friends in the IT Dept. at work recommended getting one. The one we got cost about $100...a good investment to not lose all the stuff on the computer in the event of a crash.

 

[luvmy3]

We have a 500GB Maxtor external harddrive. I use it to back up my photos, iTunes and documents. It is scheduled to back-up evey week. If your computer crashes while it is plugged in, it will be fine.

 

[nd5056]

In the Digital Pictures world it's a must. They’re easy to operate.

Also, they are so cheap, there is no excuse not to have one. As a backup device they’ll last forever, unless you drop it. Keep the power and USB/eSATA/Firewire cords disconnected when not in use.

Also, remember to disconnect the drive BEFORE deleting anything from your PC, you wouldn’t believe how many people delete stuff from the wrong place by mistake.

Here is a good deal for 1TB WD External HD.

Note: While I like Seagate Hard Drives, stay away from anything larger the 500MB capacity that Seagate makes. They have problems with those… .

Personally, I want to make sure that the pictures of my kids will still be there when my kids grow up, I store it on my PC, and I have a double back up (2 different external Hard Drives – copy of a copy). It’s a small price to pay to preserve the memories of a childhood… .

.

 

[LeCras]

If your computer crashes, does this crash too?

Nope. My external drives have been connected continuously for years and have seen their fair share of crashes. No problems whatsoever. Of course, you won't be able to access the external disk while your PC is down, so the crash thing is sort of a moot point.

Charlotte

 

[Chicago526]

DH put an external on mine. As far as I know, it just works as an extra drive, if I want something backed up I just save it to the external drive and that's it. I have to manually do it, it doesn't do it autmaticly. If my computer crashes, even with it connected, it doesn't effect the external at all. I just keep things like my Quicken back ups and a few important documents on it, there is very little critical that I save on my computer to begin with.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

In the Digital Pictures world it's a must. They’re easy to operate.

Also, they are so cheap, there is no excuse not to have one. As a backup device they’ll last forever, unless you drop it. Keep the power and USB/eSATA/Firewire cords disconnected when not in use.

Also, remember to disconnect the drive BEFORE deleting anything from your PC, you wouldn’t believe how many people delete stuff from the wrong place by mistake.

Here is a good deal for 1TB WD External HD.

Note: While I like Seagate Hard Drives, stay away from anything larger the 500MB capacity that Seagate makes. They have problems with those… .

Personally, I want to make sure that the pictures of my kids will still be there when my kids grow up, I store it on my PC, and I have a double back up (2 different external Hard Drives – copy of a copy). It’s a small price to pay to preserve the memories of a childhood… .

.

So, when you delete a document, you can delete it off of just the computer, or both? As an example, if I create a document title ABC and then later decide I don't want it. Can I delete it from the external HD as well as the computer?

 

[JR6ooo4]

All hard drives will fail, eventualy. But it may be 3 months or 50 years. Don't buy the bottom price unit without checking reviews of the unit.

I back up files to DVD and an external HD.

at work I do a backup to the hard drive twice a day! 9am and 4pm.

Mikeeee

 

[JR6ooo4]

So, when you delete a document, you can delete it off of just the computer, or both? As an example, if I create a document title ABC and then later decide I don't want it. Can I delete it from the external HD as well as the computer?

You can delete files from either or both.

Some backup utilities store the data in compressed format. You may not be able to just browse the external HD and look for a file name. You might have to use the recovery software it came with to retrieve specific or all files.

Mikeeee

 

[nd5056]

So, when you delete a document, you can delete it off of just the computer, or both? As an example, if I create a document title ABC and then later decide I don't want it. Can I delete it from the external HD as well as the computer?

You delete what you pick, and only at that location.

If you set it up to do automatic back-ups, you delete it from your PC and the automatic back-up overwrites the older back-up with newer one not containing those deleted files anymore. The best way to do it is not thru automatic back-up, just drag & drop operation.

However, the most stories I know started with:

well, I picked and deleted those files after backing them up, then couple of days later I saw them again and I wasn’t sure if I got rid of them, so I deleted them and…

To make a long story short, copying the whole folders to another drive retains the same folder name without that “Copy of” note. If you have 2 windows open next to each other it’s very easy to delete the folder from the wrong drive.

Disconnecting the drive protects you from making that mistake and also protects you from a spike going thru the power lines. It did happen to me when the lightening strike hit the power line across the street, it blew everything connected to the outlet, phones, answering machine, TV, PC, etc… .


.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

You can delete files from either or both.

Some backup utilities store the data in compressed format. You may not be able to just browse the external HD and look for a file name. You might have to use the recovery software it came with to retrieve specific or all files.

Mikeeee

You delete what you pick, and only in that location.

If you set it up to do automatic back-ups, you delete it from your PC and the automatic back-up overwrites the older back-up with newer one not containing those deleted files anymore. The best way to do it is not thru automatic back-up, just drag & drop operation.

However, the most stories I know started with:

well, I picked and deleted those files after backing them up, then couple of days later I saw them again and I wasn’t sure if I got rid of them, so I deleted them and…

To make a long story short, copying the whole folders to another drive retains the same folder name without that “Copy of” note. If you have 2 windows open next to each other it’s very easy to delete the folder from the wrong drive.

Disconnecting the drive protects you from making that mistake and also protects you from a spike going thru the power lines. It did happen to me when the lightening strike hit the power line across the street, it blew everything connected to the outlet, phones, answering machine, TV, PC, etc… .


.

Thanks for the response.

 

[ToyStory Fan]

I thought about going for the External HD, but opted for the NAS drive instead...Network Attached Storage drive. The difference is when you have multiple computers in the house, in order to access the External HD simultaneously, both computers need to be on, and if you are moving back and forth between 2 you can't assign it to reconnect the network drive at logon. With a NAS drive it is plug and play - plugs into my router and it is up and avaialble for use, it also came with some nice backup software to schedule backups from each of the different machines we have at home (currently 3) The NAS drive can be partitioned so that each user has their own drive letter..M=music drive, P = pictures, etc.

I find it much better than External HD for multiple computers.

It is a Buffalo Technology NAS drive - I have 500GB, but they make them upt to TB sizes and multiple drive centers etc.

 

[torinsmom]

Thanks for all the responses. I definitely think I should get one of these....

Marsha

 

[Imzadi]

To make a long story short, copying the whole folders to another drive retains the same folder name without that “Copy of” note. If you have 2 windows open next to each other it’s very easy to delete the folder from the wrong drive..

Just clarifying, so I AM supposed to open two windows and drag & drop the whole folder or not?

Also, I recently bought a 32GB flash drive for my backup. I don't have the massive amount of pictures everyone else has. Are flash drives pretty reliable for backing up?

 

[bicker]

I have three 500GB USB external hard drives. Before we bought a 1TB drive for an old desktop computer, it was how we backed-up our two laptops and one desktop. (Now we backup the laptops to the 1TB drive on the desktop, and we backup the one set of data files for the one thing we use the desktop for, on to the two laptops, using Groove File Synchronization.)

I have hooked these drives up to the desktop as additional storage, solely for use with TiVo Desktop, backing up recordings from the TiVo onto the external hard drive, so that if the TiVo hard drive fails, I haven't lost the recordings before we have a chance to watch them. However, we've found that sometimes this prevents the desktop computer from booting (some kind of boot failure :shrug: ), so don't be surprised if you encounter such problems. NAS is definitely a stronger, more reliable approach.

I wonder: Is there a way I can take the 500GB HDs out of two of these USB drives and put it into a enclosure with a RAID1 controller, which I can then use as a NAS device? If so, does anyone know what enclosure I would need to/should buy?

 

[nd5056]

Just clarifying, so I AM supposed to open two windows and drag & drop the whole folder or not?

Also, I recently bought a 32GB flash drive for my backup. I don't have the massive amount of pictures everyone else has. Are flash drives pretty reliable for backing up?

Yes, the easiest way.

And flash drive would do as well. just you'd get more bytes per dollar if you went with the HD.


Remember to fallow the disconnecting procedure for the USB drive, a power spike could kill it too. It won’t happen 99.9% of the time but since you want to use it as a back up device…


.

 

[nd5056]

I wonder: Is there a way I can take the 500GB HDs out of two of these USB drives and put it into a enclosure with a RAID1 controller, which I can then use as a NAS device? If so, does anyone know what enclosure I would need to/should buy?

NAS + RAID = BIG $$$


Look HERE:

However, we've found that sometimes this prevents the desktop computer from booting (some kind of boot failure :shrug: ), so don't be surprised if you encounter such problems. NAS is definitely a stronger, more reliable approach.

More convenient – yes, more reliable – not really. Check BIOS Bootable Devices, exclude USB bootable devices from the Boot sequence or options. That would be the first thing I’d check, it may help. There could be some other conflicts to deal with…

.

 

[Imzadi]

Yes, the easiest way.

And flash drive would do as well. just you'd get more bytes per dollar if you went with the HD.


Remember to fallow the disconnecting procedure for the USB drive, a power spike could kill it too. It won’t happen 99.9% of the time but since you want to use it as a back up device…


.

Thanks!