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Thread ID: 68968	2006-05-17 18:28:00	Backups	JJJJJ (528)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
455552	2006-05-17 18:28:00	I have been reading through several threads and can't realy find what I want to know.So would some knowlegable person advise me please. I want to back up all my files off my hard disk in an orderly fashion. I've been reading about external hard drives ,flash drives and key drives. I'm still short in info about them. At present I have about 10 CD's worth plus numerous floppies. All unlabelled of course. Never worked out how to label a CD. Everytime I change computer or re-install OS I seem to lose something. I would like something that just plugs into a USB that I can drag and drop from and to. I wouldn't be transporting it anywhere. In fact it could sit on my desk plugged in permanantly. Another thought is a second hard disk in my computer, but I'm not keen on that. Any advice would be very welcome. I want the best,not the cheapest.	JJJJJ (528)
455553	2006-05-17 19:39:00	I use one of these:- www.pbtech.co.nz I do also use a second hard drive and image the first hard drive before any major changes.	Sweep (90)
455554	2006-05-17 21:28:00	That's not a bad price. What about something on a network? Can you have an external hdd that is not 'bound' to a pc? Meaning, the hdd could still function if all the pc's in the network where turned off? JJJJJ, do you think it would be a good idea to plug it in permanantly? I mean, one of the reasons to back up would be to save your data from power cuts or whatever. But if the external hdd is also connected to the pc, wouldnt the power irregularity also screw the external hdd? Someone please advise.	mejobloggs (264)
455555	2006-05-17 21:42:00	What about something on a network? Can you have an external hdd that is not 'bound' to a pc? Meaning, the hdd could still function if all the pc's in the network where turned off? What use would there be for a HDD running on a network with no PC's turned on? JJJJJ, do you think it would be a good idea to plug it in permanantly? I mean, one of the reasons to back up would be to save your data from power cuts or whatever. But if the external hdd is also connected to the pc, wouldnt the power irregularity also screw the external hdd? Not to mention if there is a fire or burglary chances are your backups disappear with your PC. That makes the whole purpose of backing up a complete waste of time and money. A good backup should protect you from as many data loss scenarios as possible, not just HDD failure. If you use an external HDD then transport the thing with you when you leave home (ie put it in your car). That way you will always have a backup in another location. I use an external HDD with my laptop. The HDD stays at home and my laptop travels with me. If I leave my lapotp at home I grab my HDD and take that with me instead, it doesn't take much time to take it with me.	Sb0h (3744)
455556	2006-05-17 22:16:00	What use would there be for a HDD running on a network with no PC's turned on?What I was trying to get at, is that the HDD would be independant to the pc's in the network. For example, atm I have a printer on one pc. That means that whenever that pc is turned off, none of the other pc's can print. So if the HDD was plugged into one pc, which got turned off, none of the other pc's could access the HDD. Anyways, that doesn't bother me too much, it was just me wondering.	mejobloggs (264)
455557	2006-05-17 22:45:00	What I was trying to get at, is that the HDD would be independant to the pc's in the network. Fair enough, I figured that's what you were meaning. :D Network drives are pretty cool (awesome for storing media content), although for backup I would still use some form of removable storage just to be safe.	Sb0h (3744)
455558	2006-05-17 23:05:00	Do you have a link to any network drives?	mejobloggs (264)
455559	2006-05-18 01:25:00	Do you have a link to any network drives? NO	JJJJJ (528)
455560	2006-05-18 01:27:00	Anyone got an opinion on this? $250.63 incl GST 338067 Buy Buy and get a discount of $4.44 In stock as at 18 May Price/Stock watch Email a friend Add to wish list Category Hard drives Manufacturer Western Digital - External Manufacturer part no WDXML40UETA Manufacturer's specification Ascent part no 338067 Western Digital Passport WDXML400UE Hard Disk Drive, 40GB, 5400rpm, 2048KB Cache, External, USB 2	JJJJJ (528)
455561	2006-05-18 05:44:00	I use Synback and a spare hard drive on my desktop. Synback because I find it a reliable program and its free. It does need to be set up and involves some learning. I managed it so anybody can! The spare hard drive idea I admit has its risks but I have set Synback up so that from about 11am every day it automatically backs up all my data into folders on the spare drive that are less than the size of a CD. These folders can then be downloaded (when I feel its needed) onto a CD (I only use ordinary CDs - rewritables are nothing but a pain in the butt). I also network my laptop to the desktop and occasionally backup to it with TOTAL COMMANDER using its default two screens (fabulous program). My laptop is newer than my desktop and has a huge disk in comparison. Normally when I need a backup copy of anything I use the copy on the spare hard drive. If ever the beast goes down then I will have my other backups. Just in case of fire etc I do store fairly recent CD backups in the outside garage - well away from the house. Just to be even safer I distribute copies of our photographs to the family members. Some are in other countries. I wonder why we are so very scared of loosing stuff - after all 50 odd years ago all we had were the paper originals. Nothing was backed up. Ah yes of course we didn't have computers then did we! Tom	Thomas01 (317)
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