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General discussion

need external hard drive

Aug 3, 2010 2:42AM PDT

We are not savvy.We need to get an external hard drive to backup files from our desktop computer.We want to be able to do this as simply as possible.We will need usb or power cord connection.We are using pentium 4 windows xp.Amy suggestions for a reliable external hard drive?Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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We all want that.
Aug 3, 2010 3:36AM PDT

While there are many to choose from the basic issue is these are just a little less reliable than internal drives. It's still a step in the right direction to save a spare copy but to call it backup is incorrect. Backup has been defined for years as more than one copy with a copy away from the PC. This means you need to save what you want to backup in more than one place.

That said, almost any usb hard drive you see at the store will be fine.

Post the make and model for members to comment on. And remember that that's the first copy. After that you need one more copy away from the PC to get a real backup.
Bob

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I have a question
Aug 3, 2010 4:31AM PDT

I am adding a question to this discussion since it is on external hard drives.

I do not know a ton but i have been doing research and I found a Western Digital (WD Elements 1.5TB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Model: WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN) and Seagate (Expansion 1TB External USB 2.0 Desktop Hard Drive Model: ST310005EXA101-RK) that I am intereted in.

I own a Dell laptop - dual core processor 500GB hard drive (Windows 7 Home prem)
I want to back up everything once (as a full back up of what I have now) and then have a second external hard drive to back up the entire system and then use on a daily basis with updated file transfers.

I decided to go with at least 1 TB of space just in case because I have a lot of music files.

My questions:

Do these back up everything? (When I want a backup, I want to save programs...etc...a complete copy of the hard disk...not just files and music).

Also, does anyone know about the brands I listed? I read some reviews on Best Buy and other sites, but there is always the occassional...the hard drive died after 2 weeks.

Thank you again for any assistance.

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Do they backup EVERYTHING?
Aug 3, 2010 4:39AM PDT

Most don't. But I just finished a complete machine backup with CLONEZILLA. I booted the CLONEZILLA CD pressed return twice, selected the USB external to hold the backup, pressed return twice again, gave the backup a name, pressed return a few more times and it backed it all up. I can't imagine it being any easier.

Remember that the hard drive is not what does the backup. The backup is either some software title if you want a complete image of the PC or if you just want files then you can copy using Windows Explorer.

Hope that helps.

As to the brands they are used by close to some million folk. Yes there are some failures just like in any product. There is no name that is without that issue.

At 2 weeks that's fine since that's an infant failure and in a backup scheme it would not be a failure since we have that other backup copy.
Bob