Computer Back-Up

[Lynn_M]

My computer is very slow (I know nothing about computer maintenance and can't find a way to learn how to do it) and my plan to resolve the problem is to put all of my files (pictures, written word documents etc, just in case I've used the wrong term) onto an External Hard Drive. This means I have a lot of work in front of me.

Is there a way that I can copy all of my files onto my External Hard Drive in one fell swoop?

[ivor4781]

plug your external hard drive in .copy and paste what you want,though not in "one"fell swoop
btw the internet is packed with info on how to maintain a computer

[Maydup]

Before you copy all your contents, try these clean ups.

Run a disk defragment
Simple way of reconfiguring how your hard drive stores information for maximum efficiency.
Go to “My Computer”, right-click on the hard drive and select “Properties”. Under the “Tools” tab there should be an option to “Defragment Now”.

Run disk clean up
Windows also includes a built-in disk de-cluttering tool called “Disk Cleanup”.
It searches through the system for unnecessary large files such as temporary Internet files, program installers, and so on.
Open Disk Cleanup by clicking “Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup”.

[Maydup]

Alternatively to copy folders in one fell swoop, hold down the shift or control key and highlight each folder you want to move. Then either drag them in or copy and paste.

[VHG]

Create a folder on your external hard drive with the name something like "mybackup 2015 03 02"

(include the date in the folder name as you can then have a different folder for each backup you take on different dates).

Within that backup folder create other folders called "Documents" "Photos" and so on for each of the types of your personal files.

Then go into the various folders on your computer one at a time like MyDocuments, MyPhotos etc.

When in each folder use the "Select All" option to select all the files, then select COPY.

Now go into the appropriate folder on your external hard disk then select PASTE.

This will copy all the files from the first folder to the second folder.

This is called COPY and PASTE and is a good way of copying or moving files. You can also DRAG and DROP, or use the SENDTO option.

You can check it has copied all the files by looking at the properties of each folder and seeing if they are the same size with the same number of files and folders.

Do this for all the folders on you computer that contain your personal files and you should then have a backup of all your files.

[mikey4444]

I think you should do all the things that Maydup says first. They are very easy, although they may take some time. If you haven't done this "clean-up" exercise for a while, or even ever, you should see a good improvement in speed. But be prepared to be patient....a defrag can take hours !

But you haven't said exactly what you mean by "my computer is very slow"
Slow doing what ? Downloading a file for instance ?

What download speed are you getting ?

Are you on a fast broadband service, like BT's Infinity ?

If you don't know, do a speed test first ....try this one for size :::

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/