Flibbert
I need to buy an external hard drive for back-up specific purposes. I will be using this drive to back up two (maybe three) different computers on a weekly basis. Any recommendations for brands/types? I am looking for ease (such as a firewire type thing. Hook up and go), cost (average cost) and space (how much do should I get). I'll be mainly backing up music and photos.
Answer
The degree of compression of media files is really small. For example if one backup media library using True Image even with high compression degree (the degree of compression is adjustable in True Image) he'll get an image that is only 20 percent less than the initial library.
So I recommend you to purchase an external drive that is as big as the library you want to backup, in case your media library sufficiently expands you need a drive at least 2 times bigger than the initial media library. As for manufactures Seagate and Maxtor external drives are quite reliable and I've never had any problems with them.
The degree of compression of media files is really small. For example if one backup media library using True Image even with high compression degree (the degree of compression is adjustable in True Image) he'll get an image that is only 20 percent less than the initial library.
So I recommend you to purchase an external drive that is as big as the library you want to backup, in case your media library sufficiently expands you need a drive at least 2 times bigger than the initial media library. As for manufactures Seagate and Maxtor external drives are quite reliable and I've never had any problems with them.
Need external hard drive?
LadyA
I was told I need to back up my computer and I need to purchase an external hard drive. I don't know anything about them so do anyone know what is the best one to purchase? Thanks for the help
Answer
An external hard drive has three main purposes: to expand your computer's storage capacity, to back up your data, and to share data between computers. It's also easy to use. Most of the time, you just need to plug it into the computer with an USB cable (plus of course use the energy plug on the wall socket) and use it as an internal hard drive.
Yes, external hard drives are absolutely necessary if you don't want to lose all your data to a computer malfunction. Of course it also depends on how precious your data is to you. For some of us, the computer contains our life's work. A 2008 survey found that 66% of respondents had lost files on their home PC.(Wikipedia says)
Many useful things have been said by previous repliers. Let me stress a couple of important things, though.
1. You need TWO external hard drives. I've had a perfectly good hard drive, from one of the top brands, go POOF and die on me for no particular reason. If it's still in warranty, they will replace the hard drive, but your data is gone. So yes, buy two.
2. You need a hard drive that is considerably larger than your PC hard drive (unless your PC already has 1-2 TB storage capacity). Why? Well, stuff does tend to accumulate. Films, for instance, if they are HD take lots of space. You don't want to have to buy additional hard drives. Of course money is a problem here. A Lacie 20TB drive costs about 2000 dollars. But who needs 20TB? For most of us, 2 TB is plenty. You don't want to hoard! So yes, I agree that the WD 2T Passport Slim is a good choice and fairly priced at $150. Here is a link: http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/wd-my-passport-slim/4505-3186_7-35827183.html
3. Go for USB 3.00. Maybe now your computer won't have any use for it, but you may change your computer in time, and then you'll be happy your hard drive can cope with the new hardware and work much faster.
4. Most brands will have many different types of external drives, with great price variations for the same storage capacity. Some come with bells and whistles, like included programs etc etc... Waste of money and space. You want to buy a simple one, which just has storage, period!
5. Use one of the very good synch programs out there to keep the backup current. Backup normally backs up only a portion of each file and it's not such a secure way to go. Whereas synch finds out which files have been added, deleted or changed, and will replace the old with the new, but replacing the whole file, not just some of it. OK, I'm not explaining it very well. Please read the differences between incremental and differential backup here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup
I did, and chose to do a synch instead. These synchronizing programs are awsome and very customizable, especially if you buy the paid version. You can choose the mirror synch (PC and external drive have to become identical (replacing, adding and deleting where needed, after you have told the program which one is the source and which one is the destination), or the synch where you just add files without deleting any (if you're not sure) or whatever. You also get to check exactly what will be done before it is done. Not only, you can save Sync Tasks with a name you understand (for instance: "Docs - from PC to n.1" or "From n.1 to n.2" and then, without going through the tedious configuration stuff, you just click a button and it will do the sync.
I just love them. I have Superflexible File Synchronizer, but GoodSync which I use in the office is also great and it only costs 30 dollars, half of Superflexible. Here are comparative reviews of many such programs for you to browse: http://sync-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
5. There is another way of backing up, which is called "Ghost image". Here, the program sort of captures the present configuration of your computer, including not only your files but also your installed programs. For this, you need the external hard drive to be equal or preferably bigger than the computer's storage. This is wonderful to do once in a while, because it means that if your computer leaves you, you can restore it as it was without having to reinstall all your programs. But it's not handy as a regular backup of files, so you do need to do a simpler backup regularly (thus needing more space) for that.
6. For REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT files, also put them on a DVD - or two. You don't want to put all your virtual eggs in one basket.
7. Whatever solution you go for, remember to backup once a week (or even more often, if you just got an important file), if you don't want to feel completely stupid and miserable and hit yourself when something wrong happens. And, as Murphy would say, sh*** happens. Often!
An external hard drive has three main purposes: to expand your computer's storage capacity, to back up your data, and to share data between computers. It's also easy to use. Most of the time, you just need to plug it into the computer with an USB cable (plus of course use the energy plug on the wall socket) and use it as an internal hard drive.
Yes, external hard drives are absolutely necessary if you don't want to lose all your data to a computer malfunction. Of course it also depends on how precious your data is to you. For some of us, the computer contains our life's work. A 2008 survey found that 66% of respondents had lost files on their home PC.(Wikipedia says)
Many useful things have been said by previous repliers. Let me stress a couple of important things, though.
1. You need TWO external hard drives. I've had a perfectly good hard drive, from one of the top brands, go POOF and die on me for no particular reason. If it's still in warranty, they will replace the hard drive, but your data is gone. So yes, buy two.
2. You need a hard drive that is considerably larger than your PC hard drive (unless your PC already has 1-2 TB storage capacity). Why? Well, stuff does tend to accumulate. Films, for instance, if they are HD take lots of space. You don't want to have to buy additional hard drives. Of course money is a problem here. A Lacie 20TB drive costs about 2000 dollars. But who needs 20TB? For most of us, 2 TB is plenty. You don't want to hoard! So yes, I agree that the WD 2T Passport Slim is a good choice and fairly priced at $150. Here is a link: http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/wd-my-passport-slim/4505-3186_7-35827183.html
3. Go for USB 3.00. Maybe now your computer won't have any use for it, but you may change your computer in time, and then you'll be happy your hard drive can cope with the new hardware and work much faster.
4. Most brands will have many different types of external drives, with great price variations for the same storage capacity. Some come with bells and whistles, like included programs etc etc... Waste of money and space. You want to buy a simple one, which just has storage, period!
5. Use one of the very good synch programs out there to keep the backup current. Backup normally backs up only a portion of each file and it's not such a secure way to go. Whereas synch finds out which files have been added, deleted or changed, and will replace the old with the new, but replacing the whole file, not just some of it. OK, I'm not explaining it very well. Please read the differences between incremental and differential backup here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup
I did, and chose to do a synch instead. These synchronizing programs are awsome and very customizable, especially if you buy the paid version. You can choose the mirror synch (PC and external drive have to become identical (replacing, adding and deleting where needed, after you have told the program which one is the source and which one is the destination), or the synch where you just add files without deleting any (if you're not sure) or whatever. You also get to check exactly what will be done before it is done. Not only, you can save Sync Tasks with a name you understand (for instance: "Docs - from PC to n.1" or "From n.1 to n.2" and then, without going through the tedious configuration stuff, you just click a button and it will do the sync.
I just love them. I have Superflexible File Synchronizer, but GoodSync which I use in the office is also great and it only costs 30 dollars, half of Superflexible. Here are comparative reviews of many such programs for you to browse: http://sync-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
5. There is another way of backing up, which is called "Ghost image". Here, the program sort of captures the present configuration of your computer, including not only your files but also your installed programs. For this, you need the external hard drive to be equal or preferably bigger than the computer's storage. This is wonderful to do once in a while, because it means that if your computer leaves you, you can restore it as it was without having to reinstall all your programs. But it's not handy as a regular backup of files, so you do need to do a simpler backup regularly (thus needing more space) for that.
6. For REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT files, also put them on a DVD - or two. You don't want to put all your virtual eggs in one basket.
7. Whatever solution you go for, remember to backup once a week (or even more often, if you just got an important file), if you don't want to feel completely stupid and miserable and hit yourself when something wrong happens. And, as Murphy would say, sh*** happens. Often!
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Title Post: What type of external hard drive should I buy?
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