Freecom and data storage

[camioneur]

Recently bought Freecom external hard drive for data storage. These are business files , not videos or music. I have since discovered on this site that Freecom aren't 100% reliable and although the guy that posted the info on here was given a free hard drive when his failed, they offered nothing in the way of data retrieval. So now I'm starting to worry about my back ups and have been wondering about online storage. I don't have massive amounts to store but couldn't afford to loose what I have got. Any suggestions gratefully received thanks

[dodgyshirt]

I don`t believe Freecom are any more or less reliable than other brands of external Hard Drives.
The main point to consider about them is that they are simply PC HDDs (or laptop drives in the smaller ones) fitted in an enclosure. HDDs by their very nature produce a great deal of heat which is detrimental to them and were not primarily designed for this type of use. Even when fitted in a PC care should be taken over their ventilation for this very reason.
I have assembled a fair amount of these external drives and I always advise my customers to switch them off when not in use to prolong their life.
In all honesty they should only be used as a temporary back-up solution and anything essential should be transferred to CD or DVD in my opinion.

[camioneur]

Thanks Dodgy, I have been turning it off and only have it on for 5 mins a day while I sync folders. I did wonder whether it was ok to turn of though as when I try and stop it through the "Safely remove hardware" ico in the system tray, it always says.."unable to stop device" but I turn it off anyway.

Thanks for the advice

[fo3nix]

Wait a few minutes after you've been using it, then it should say that it's now safe to unplug.

Ideally use the hard drive as a backup drive, i.e., keep the files on your regular hard drive too. That way if either goes wrong, you have a backup. Having important files on only one drive is a bad idea.

I personally also use strongspace for my backup needs, which works very well.

[wideboy]

Camioneur, as said by others - have more than one backup, maybe a second (or more) HD in your machine (unless it's a laptop). Recent suggestions in magazines are saying that CD/DVD backups may only last 2 to 5 years!!!

BTW - if the drive says "unable to stop" (and waitinf doesn't help), try right clicking on the drive icon and choosing 'Eject' - this should be safer than than just switching off. It also works for USB sticks or memory cards (especially if you have built-in card slots).