External Hard Drive

[Avocetz]

Hi
I have just purchased an Iomega 320gb external hd to use with my Dell computer.

I would be grateful for any tips on how to get the best use from it.

I plan to back up my important files and iIwant to store my itunes music on it . Will itunes work on with the programme installed on C drive and the whole of my music library (app 40mb) on the external drive?

Also can I install programmes themselves on the external drive and will they work ok?

Any advice/comments gratefully received

Thanks

Chris

[vehelpfulguy]

First, I would not install programs on the external drive, keep them for your C drive. An external drive connects via USB, and the USB connection is not as fast as having the hard drive inside your PC case.

It is fine to store music etc on the external drive, but it is not a BACK UP. An external hard drive can overheat and crash and you may lose everything.

A true back up is a CD or DVD.

Make sure you have all important files backed up to CD or DVD.

Make the assumption that maybe one day your computer or hard disk may crash, could you recover everything ?

[fo3nix]

Personally I'd disagree with vehelpfulguy that an external hard drive isn't a true backup, but I know what he's saying.

Use something like Norton Ghost to do a full backup of your internal drive onto your external. Do it once a week or every few weeks.

Don't install programs onto other hard drives as vehelpfulguy says, and if possible keep your iTunes music on your hard drive too. If you want the music itself on your external though, you can just copy the \my documents\my music\itunes\itunes music folder to your external drive, and then tell iTunes where it is in the preferences, under advanced tab.

[vehelpfulguy]

hi, fo3nix,

My definition of a back up is:

If my house was burgled, and my computer stolen, could I recover everything.

If files were backed up on an external hard drive that is likely to get stolen along with the PC then this is NOT a back up.

There was a letter in PC Pro magazine a few months ago from a guy who ran a business from home.

He admitted backup was not his highest priority.

He went on holiday, his house was flooded, and he lost all the data on his computers.

I doubt if he would now think that putting data on an external hard drive was a back up.

I back up EVERYTHING I want to keep on two CDs or DVDs (in caseo one is in error) . If any of my computers were stolen or crashed I could recover everything, even documents I wrote in 1999.

The only thing I dont do is keep any copies of the CDs or DVDs at a relatives house, in case my house burns down.

This is a bit extreme, but in the business world a copy of important data should always be kept offsite.

[TeeGee]

Some insurance companies stipulate that regular backups ( be they tapes, CDs, DVDs, removable hard drives, memory sticks etc. ) are kept off-site even when the premises are occupied. Even a fireproof safe is not good enough.
Have you considered using one of the many online backup facilities for your important data.

[fo3nix]

vewhelpfulguy: yes, I agree there.

avocetz: I'd suggest putting your really important personal data that cannot simply be downloaded from some website again onto a CD or DVD, as vehelpfulguy suggests. Backing up your entire hard drive to CD or DVD sounds like a nightmare to me though, and almost certainly would never get done by most people due to the effort it takes. So, you should also do a regular backup of your entire hard drive onto an external hard drive, ideally kept separate to your computer for the reasons vehelpfulguy suggests.

Personally I backup my entire hard drive to an external drive once a week or few weeks, but regularly (once a day, twice a day sometimes), backup to an offsite secure service called strongspace. This just contains my important personal data and photos etc., and is located in california, so no trouble with burglary etc.