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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 11:23:45 AM UTC
Re:
I´m not a hardware expert, but there are some things you should consider:
One is of course the capacity. That´s,of course, important if you will use it for backup/ save important files like text documents, programs, pictures..
If you use it often, e.g. if you install programs on it and run them from it, it should be quite fast.
Another point at least for me is the loudness.
And, of course, it should be compatible to your computer (connectors can be hard to find sometimes :))Blueberrycake Level Member of the WOT Community
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 11:33:52 AM UTC
One thing that you can do
One thing that you can do (which applies to Linux, but may work on Windows too) is to tarball your entire OS, then backup the MBR's first 446 bytes. When you want to restore the backup, format the drive, untar the files onto your disk, then overwrite the first 446 bytes onto the hard drive's first 446 bytes.
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 02:48:45 PM UTC
Hd
Most if not all external hard drives now come with a USB connection so connecting them is no problem. You should find 500gig is more than enough to store your OS backup as this is done in a compressed format. Naturally it's best to go for the biggest capacity that you can afford as with each year the pc develops the need for more space increases. Having lots means you get longer life and use out of the portable HD although I cant see 500gigs becoming useless in the next few years, unlike the old drives 10 or so years back that were in megs.
Be advised that restoring your OS after a virus, from an external HD may not be the answer or help. Many virus's have the ability to affect external media so the minute it's plugged in, it could then simply restore the infection. By all means use the external HD for backing up and increasing your storage but dont rely on it to bail you out from infections as this is an expensive option just for that purpose. Grab good well known security for your PC and use safe surfing habits and you should be ok.
As for which manufacturer to buy, that is down to preference. Many people will like one brand where others shun it. Catch 22.
Hope this helps you.www.issviews.com for views and news of the starte of digital security. Add your comments/.feedback on your existing security software to help others choose what's right for them and what isn't. Read up on the latest rogue software and threats too.
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 12:45:26 PM UTC
Be advised that restoring
Be advised that restoring your OS after a virus, from an external HD may not be the answer or help.
To be safe a virtual enviroment could be useful, like virtualbox.
Blueberrycake Level Member of the WOT Community
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 12:56:57 PM UTC
One trick that some hardware
One trick that some hardware suppliers have been doing to get greater capacity in their products is to use RAID in the external device. For example a friend of mine purchased a 1TB drive only to discover that it was really 2 x 500GB drives in the case being striped in RAID0. Now the big issue with this is that with RAID0 if one drive happens to fail, then you loose ALL the data on both drives.
So ensure that the drive is truly a single drive of the capacity that you purchase as RAID0 is not a safe backup. Also more than one backup media should be used as well and if possible have one off site so that if the worst happens then you haven't lost everything! I realise to have an off site backup is overkill for the humble home user, but if you are unfortunate to suffer from fire then a remote solution clearly makes sense! Also make sure that whatever way you choose to backup your data, it can be restored! There is nothing worse than spending money & time only to discover you have wasted both!
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Scott Evans VK7HSE
http://www.vk7hse.hobby-site.org
PGP/GPG Key ID 437E00F9 -
- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 02:29:43 PM UTC
Hard Drives
The Windows backup sets are best used if you do not change the hardware. Another option is to use software from Paragon to exactly copy the HD onto another same-size or larger HD, which you can keep to one side (unattached) so that you only need to swap the drives if the one you are using fails. If you do change the hardware (motherboard, expansion cards, et al) then using the Windows backup sets does not necessarily restore your computer to its former glory.
There are a number of different RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) set ups. Striping, as has been observed above, can result in total loss of data. Mirroring is a better option but it does mean using up a HD, and attendant computer resources, and is not foolproof. If you are going to have a 'redundant' HD then the Paragon Drive Copy is a better option. In any event, it is a good idea to backup all of your important files onto a multi-session CD or DVD, as well as saving a Windows backup set onto a suitable flash drive.
Don't bother using web-based storage for your backups because they are often not completely secure.
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 04:27:42 PM UTC
Thanks.
Hi all,Thanks for your quick replys im not very tech minded just an average user so thanks for speaking in clear plain english for me.I have a better idea of what im looking for now......
Thanks for your time...cheers......p...........
If You Dont Ask You Will Never Know..
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- on Mon 08 Feb 2010
- 09:29:52 PM UTC
free space
Don't forget that you need at least 20GB free space for playing (or burning) DVDs, and as much free space as possible for page files (also known as swap files) and other temporary files. So although you might think that you have "61gb free space" not all of the space can be considered as genuine free space.
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- on Tue 09 Feb 2010
- 10:41:38 PM UTC
I agree with Jazspeak
Get an internal HD and an external USB enclosure, which many are really cheap. Ive used Clonezilla (free) to make a bootable clone. I have had to swap drives several times (my fault for playing with things I shouldn't).
External Hard drives.
Hi all,Can somebody give me a little advice please..I now have windows 7 on see i can make a complete backup of the system on my PC hard drive so that if i get infected or something gose wrong i can just restore the my PC hard drive to a previous state.
The thing is i have no idea what a good make of external hard drive to get, My PC is a 500gb hard drive so i think i would need a 500gb external hard drive,I have had a look on amazon but its like a mine field as to which one i need? Any help appricated..
Thank you for your time..........cheers.......p..............
If You Dont Ask You Will Never Know..