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General discussion

Looking for some backup

Jan 3, 2011 11:46AM PST

Hello...

My computer is running on its last breath and before it dies, I would like to get an external hard drive to backup my photos, music and other files. This may seem like a simple question, but once I save everything on the external hard drive, will I be able to download these files back to my NEW computer?

Thanks for your help!

Discussion is locked

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The answer is 'you should be able to do that.' and
Jan 3, 2011 12:32PM PST

thereafter continue to use the external as a backup for your DATA. Never a good idea to have the only source of something in one place...especially a computer hard drive.

How much DATA do you have to backup ?

VAPCMD

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Thanks!
Jan 3, 2011 9:26PM PST

I dont have a lot to backup - maybe 40GBs. But it's all precious Happy

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Pricelss by any measure. Another thought might be to use
Jan 4, 2011 6:43AM PST

dual layer DVDs to capture and store additional copies. Each disc holds about 8.5GBs, you'd only need 6 and you could store them off-site.

VAPCMD

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Data storage
Jan 5, 2011 12:47AM PST

I agree with the other poster. You may want to start copying data to discs after you copied them to ext. HD. That way, you start a more permanent storage of your data. You should consider any ext. HD storage as "temporary" as their nature is to fail at unpredictable times. Those discs whether they be CD/DVD/BD become a more stable form of storage and only need the required drive to retrieve them. If you read this forum, be aware of the all the help to recover data from failed devices. Please save your data ASAP. good luck

tada -----Willy Happy

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Thanks!
Jan 6, 2011 8:55AM PST

Thanks for your help! I will starting looking for some CD/DVDs as well as an external hard drive.