External Hard Drive

[BILLY-THE-FISH]

Hi,

Was thinking of getting an External USB2 Hard Drive for backing up and also for general extra storage space.
Fisrtly, Are they worth getting? If so why or why not?
Is it easy to back up all of comp. on External?
What kind of size should I be thinking of getting?
Can anyone recommend a good one to get (Im in UK)?

Cheers

[Snee]

How much money can you spend?

'cos there's everything from buying a multiport and just mounting an old hd in there to this (http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10118) if you have the money.

[mattesca]

I just take my internal drive out if i wana take data....I dont do it often though. If you are gona move it ALOT, I would recommend buying an external thing if you dont want to spend alot.

[BILLY-THE-FISH]

I got about £100
And I wanna take alot of stuff to my Friends comp. too, So I can't really keep taking my existing hard drive out.

[Colt Seevers]

Originally posted by BILLY-THE-FISH@11 August 2004 - 22:09
I got about £100
And I wanna take alot of stuff to my Friends comp. too, So I can't really keep taking my existing hard drive out.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20031218/images/maxtor-pers2.jpg

I'm using the Maxtor 250gig External Hard Drive, which uses USB 2 or Firewire.. it's good, for storage of MP3's and backing stuff up but I think it maybe out your price range.

However I did find smaller capacity external HD's for under a ton here (http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xFS?FN=Hard_Drives&KW=external&FD=1701).. hope this helps! :)

[accat13]

Try buying the drive and enclosure separate it may save you some in the long run..I have a very old laptop hardrive 1.4gb in a enclosure it's great for moving files quickly from one pc to another...

[lynx]

Originally posted by Colt Seevers+11 August 2004 - 22:22--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Colt Seevers @ 11 August 2004 - 22:22)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-BILLY&#045;THE&#045;FISH@11 August 2004 - 22:09
I got about £100
And I wanna take alot of stuff to my Friends comp. too, So I can&#39;t really keep taking my existing hard drive out.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20031218/images/maxtor-pers2.jpg

I&#39;m using the Maxtor 250gig External Hard Drive, which uses USB 2 or Firewire.. it&#39;s good, for storage of MP3&#39;s and backing stuff up but I think it maybe out your price range.

However I did find smaller capacity external HD&#39;s for under a ton here (http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xFS?FN=Hard_Drives&KW=external&FD=1701).. hope this helps&#33; :) [/b][/quote]
We haven&#39;t seen you around for a while, Colt. Are you likely to be staying long this time? Or just popping in?

I agree with accat13&#39;s suggestion about getting an external drive case and fitting your own drive, it does tend to be a lot cheaper.

[BILLY-THE-FISH]

Originally posted by Colt Seevers+11 August 2004 - 20:22--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Colt Seevers &#064; 11 August 2004 - 20:22)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-BILLY&#045;THE&#045;FISH@11 August 2004 - 22:09
I got about £100
And I wanna take alot of stuff to my Friends comp. too, So I can&#39;t really keep taking my existing hard drive out.
http://www6.tomshardware.com/storage/20031218/images/maxtor-pers2.jpg

I&#39;m using the Maxtor 250gig External Hard Drive, which uses USB 2 or Firewire.. it&#39;s good, for storage of MP3&#39;s and backing stuff up but I think it maybe out your price range.

However I did find smaller capacity external HD&#39;s for under a ton here (http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xFS?FN=Hard_Drives&KW=external&FD=1701).. hope this helps&#33; :) [/b][/quote]
Cheers Colt..&#33;
They look good, Do you use the one button back-up? and how exactly does that work? does it make a complete copy of all files and programs including installed?
always wondered....

[Colt Seevers]

Hi,

Billy I can&#39;t comment on the one button back-up function as I&#39;ve never used it.

I believe the drive came with some software that you install - then the button works... I never bought for this use though, just for storing stuff. As the other guys suggested if you&#39;re on a really tight budget a seperate drive and enclosure is the probably gonna cost you even fewer pennies&#33; Which is always good&#33;

@ Lynx just popping in, although I do lurk from time to time, so I can do some catching up on the wonderful world of P2P&#33; :01:

[Robert00000]

Originally posted by accat13@11 August 2004 - 22:09
Try buying the drive and enclosure separate it may save you some in the long run..I have a very old laptop hardrive 1.4gb in a enclosure it&#39;s great for moving files quickly from one pc to another...
Yep, this is a better option, I have a 120 gig drive in an enclosure. Its cheaper and easy to upgrade - just replace the drive inside.

[BILLY-THE-FISH]

Cheers you guys&#33; :beerchug:

[Twist3r]

were can you get one of these enclosures i havent ever heard of it befor but it sounds great :)

[Colt Seevers]

Originally posted by Twister@13 August 2004 - 02:00
were can you get one of these enclosures i havent ever heard of it befor but it sounds great&nbsp; :)
http://www.savastore.com/prod_images/CNet/I189732.jpg

You can get one with USB 2.0 and Firewire ports here. (http://www.savastore.com/products/product.asp?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10268268&pid=45&tid=3) Just an example, and don&#39;t forget you will need to buy the appropriate Firewire or USB cables to connect it, oh and don&#39;t forget a Hard drive to go in it&#33; :lol:

Unless ofcourse you already got some spare leads and an old HD kicking around in which case you&#39;re sorted&#33; ;)

Interesting, now i&#39;m thinking of getting one myself now&#33; :rolleyes:

[lee551]

could you put an existing hard drive in it that already has files in it, and access it that way? or do you have to do a reformat procedure & such before you put it in the enclosure? :unsure:

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by lee551@12 August 2004 - 21:10
could you put an existing hard drive in it that already has files in it, and access it that way? or do you have to do a reformat procedure & such before you put it in the enclosure? :unsure:
moving a drive from an internal connector to a firewire shell should not require a reformat, especially if it&#39;s just a storage disk (i.e. it isn&#39;t the drive which the operating system is installed on). as long as the system understands how to use the IDE-to-Firewire/USB adapter, it&#39;ll be fine... the drive itself is not "aware" of how it is connected.

if you try to do that with a drive which contains the operating system, you might need to perform a system repair (aka "partial reinstall") with your operating system CD in order to re-configure its startup process... but even that should not necessarily require a reformat.

[lee551]

Originally posted by 3RA1N1AC+13 August 2004 - 07:17--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (3RA1N1AC @ 13 August 2004 - 07:17)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-lee551@12 August 2004 - 21:10
could you put an existing hard drive in it that already has files in it, and access it that way? or do you have to do a reformat procedure & such before you put it in the enclosure?&nbsp; :unsure:
moving a drive from an internal connector to a firewire shell should not require a reformat, especially if it&#39;s just a storage disk (i.e. it isn&#39;t the drive which the operating system is installed on). as long as the system understands how to use the IDE-to-Firewire/USB adapter, it&#39;ll be fine... the drive itself is not "aware" of how it is connected.

if you try to do that with a drive which contains the operating system, you might need to perform a system repair (aka "partial reinstall") with your operating system CD in order to re-configure its startup process... but even that should not necessarily require a reformat. [/b][/quote]
thanks for the info :D