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General discussion

Need help with external hard drive

Mar 12, 2011 5:57AM PST

I want to purchase an external HD; would like about 500 GB and want it to be a simple plug and play, USB 2.0. I don't want anything that has compability issues that have to be dealt with.

I will use it to back up my HD and also for other storage. There are so many brands out there and I don't know which one to pick. I presently have a 320GB Iomega which I purchased several years ago. I can't seem to find one exactly like it or I'd of probably just ordered it. This one has given me no problems, but I don't have it on unless I am using it.

Since I plan on buying backup software (looking into Casper) I will have to have the hard drives on because I want to back up to both. I hope I am making sense. Would appreciate advice.

Vista Home Premium SP2 32-bit / 320GB HD / 2MB RAM with 2 more MB on order to put in / 6320 @ 1.86GHz

Avast Internet Security 5 / WinPatrol / Programs I run on demand are Registry Commander / Captain Optimizer / Malwarebytes / SUPERAntiSpyware

Discussion is locked

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Please don't.
Mar 12, 2011 6:04AM PST

If you read this forum the one thing you learn is these are not "storage." The truth is these make a fine "second copy" but if you value your stuff you know to not have the last copy on any external HDD.

Almost all with a rare exception is plug and play.
Bob

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Need help with external hard drive
Mar 12, 2011 8:13AM PST

I don't read this forum. This is the first time I have ever heard this and I have to tell you I'm puzzled. What do you suggest, then, for backing up everything?

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That's a good question.
Mar 12, 2011 9:59AM PST

And has open discussions. In short, you protect what you can't lose with multiple copies in multiple places. Leaving one copy on a lone vulnerable external HDD would only leave you open to what others ask for in this forum (how do I recover my files?)

If the files can be lost, why not any external HDD?
Bob

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Need help with external hard drive
Mar 13, 2011 5:50AM PDT

Please read my initial post again. I already have a 320GB Iomega external HD. I now want to buy another. The reason I want to buy another is that I want to backup to both. I found Iomega Prestige 1TB USB 2.0 that looks very similar to the one I already have. Maybe that would be my best choice?

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The 1TB. Here's why.
Mar 13, 2011 6:05AM PDT

If you have the 1TB you might consider saving a copy of your entire machine to that big one. I use CLONEZILLA to do that. Since CLONEZILLA is free, does what I want (both full backup and cloning) I have no need to look at Casper.
Bob

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Need help with external hard drive
Mar 13, 2011 8:27AM PDT

I want to clone my entire hard drive. But I thought you said it would be best to have this clone backup in more than one spot in case an external HD would go bad???

Also, it looks to me like Casper would be easy to run, but I am very confused by what I've read and been told about it. It was highly recommended, and reviews are great, but I'm floundering a bit.

The statement was made that: "Casper Startup Disk (CD) is an optional component for Casper that is required only in the event that you need to restore data to a new disk because you are unable to boot and run your computer directly from the backup drive."

I think perhaps the wording wasn't great for me when it says "to restore data to a NEW disk." I'm assuming that actually means that I can restore from the Iomega external to the disk presently in my computer.

Can my computer boot and run directly from the backup disk, which I assume would be the Iomega external USB HD? I don't know. How do I find out? This was the statement:
"If the backup hard disk is attached via USB, then your computer also must support booting from USB hard disk type devices in order to boot and run directly from the backup hard disk."

If you can clarify any of this I'd appreciate it. In the meantime I will check into this Clonezilla you mention.

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defining meanings
Mar 13, 2011 9:13AM PDT

Bob reply was excellent. There is a difference. To clarify in general terms:
Backup software can make incremental backups of data, or you can just copy what you want to an external drive. It's normally just data, not OS or programs.

Cloning is a complete copy of the entire hard drive at ONE time. It is not incremental. You could swap the drives, and use the clone internally, if your original internal drive died. The date of the cloning process would be the date the new drive starts from.

I clone every month, rotating two 1T drives thru the process. The next month I select a different pair. Then start the pairs over.
If I am modding a unit, I clone it first, do the mod, and establish new sets of clones after the mod has been accepted.

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Clonezilla gives me more options.
Mar 13, 2011 9:25AM PDT

I can either clone the drive or save the entire image as a folder on my external.

This is MY CHOICE depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. We are now well past the discussion about storing what we can't lose on one lone external. Now we get to discuss Clonezilla, Casper or other software.

I'm a little spoiled with Clonezilla. Free, works well, hasn't failed me and so on. Then again some folk don't like that it doesn't use a mouse!
Bob

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need help with external hard drive
Mar 13, 2011 10:24AM PDT

What I did with Acronis was, I thought, cloning. I copied my entire hard disk to my external hard drive. But after the initial full copy, I could do incremental backups.

I don't think I would like not using a mouse. I'm still very interested in this Casper but I don't want to buy it and then find out I didn't understand something about it that isn't going to allow me to use it.