Transferring files from hard drive to external drive

[Bendy]

My computer is playing up, when I switch on the power to boot up the on button flases on and off and their is a clicking noise for at least a minute. Then it stops and I can switch it on. My warranty people say its a software problem and will have to pay or I can reset to factory settings to see if it still does it in which case they will repair under warranty. I think it's the switch or something on the motherboard making it happen. I want to know how to save everything I've got to an external drive so I can put some of it back on later. Sound advice would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

[Whickerman]

Assuming it's starting ok after all the whirrs and clicks stop? Buy a cheapy external harddrive from Argos - the Sumo range is grand - and plug it into your usb socket. Give it a minute and when you check your My Computer there'll be a new harddrive showing. Copy and paste everything you want to keep, then disconnect. It's honestly that simple - plug'n'play technology.

Expect to pay less than �80 for a 500gb external harddrive.

[Bendy]

Many thanks again Whickerman

[markysngc]

I would say that doesn't sound like a software problem though, if it happening before you see windows loading it is much more likely to be a hardware problem,