GB
Chief Eating Officer
Nope. Most externals (if not all of them) are plug and play. The external drive will have a USB connection. Just plug that into your computer and your computer should recognize the drive.
Backing Up My Laptop
- Thread starter Andy M.
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Nope. Most externals (if not all of them) are plug and play. The external drive will have a USB connection. Just plug that into your computer and your computer should recognize the drive.
OP
OP
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Great. Thanks GB.
I saw a Seagate 250 gb for $89. It's not a one touch but I would just use the backup function on XP to take care of it. All I have to do is select the HD as the destination, right.
I saw a Seagate 250 gb for $89. It's not a one touch but I would just use the backup function on XP to take care of it. All I have to do is select the HD as the destination, right.
GB
Chief Eating Officer
I have a Seagate Free Agent external hard drive and I love it Andy. I had it up and running in 5 seconds from the time I opened the box. Yes you just select the hard drive destination. So instead of putting it on your C drive you will put it on whatever letter your external is. Mine is the F drive I think.
OP
OP
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Sounds like you have what I am looking at. What do you think about the need for 250gb vs 500gb. There is about a $30 price difference.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Just wanted to mention, I used to use an external HD as a backup drive - then it died. I took it to a computer shop and they couldn't even get it to spin up. I still have it, in case some miracle technique is developed sometime in the future that can get the data off of it, but now I use DVDs. Since they're not magnetic, they're more reliable, and they hold a lot more data than CDs. HTH.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I only trust external hard drive, because if there is no internet access, any network drive can not be reached at all.
You don't need Internet access to access drives on a network that is only in your house.
Maverick2272
Washing Up
The only way to do that is to take the metal disk out and put it in a new hard drive, removing its metal disk first. They have to be the same drive, and it is a very expensive procedure usually reserved for businesses.
I did it once on an older hard drive, but the new ones are too delicate for me to do in my static free vacuum box.
Maverick2272
Washing Up
If a price difference of $30 doesn't bother you, go for it.
GB
Chief Eating Officer
I would definitely drop the extra $30 and get the larger drive. I have always found that no matter how much space I have, after time I always wish I had more. I think it is wise to get the largest capacity drive you can afford.
GB
Chief Eating Officer
It is true that drive can die leaving you with no access to anything on it. That is certainly a danger to be aware of. Do not be fooled into thinking that DVD's are safe either though. There have been many reports of both CD's and DVD's degrading just by the passage of time. They are not archival material. That is why I back up my important files in multiple ways. I have my really important stuff on my computer, my external hard drive, CD or DVD, and on the internet.
Maverick2272
Washing Up
Same here, everything gets backed up first to the network drive incrementally, then a full weekly with corresponding full backup to DVD.
And while most scratches on DVD's can be fixed, sometimes going as extreme as to have them resurfaced, what it cannot recover from is a scratch on the label side that goes all the way thru. If you hold the DVD up to the light and can see light thru a scratch, its a gonner.
And while most scratches on DVD's can be fixed, sometimes going as extreme as to have them resurfaced, what it cannot recover from is a scratch on the label side that goes all the way thru. If you hold the DVD up to the light and can see light thru a scratch, its a gonner.
