external hard drive

[perose]

I need to back up some files because if my computer crashes I lose all of my Family History that I have spent hours and pounds researching. I have been told to get an external hard drive but know nothing about them. What does buffer size mean? I have found one 500GB which is big enough memory but are they easy to use? Please help !

[another-view]

Oh yes, they are really easy. Just plug it in and look for it on "my computer", then copy and paste and files you wish to store on it just like you would do with a USB stick.

[Postdog]

Ditto

[whifffey]

Yes, extremely easy. I've got one, 250gb, which is huge. Plug it into a USB slot and it just appears in Windows Explorer, e.g. as a G: drive. I think I paid about �60 in PC World. You get a thingy in your tray (bottom right) to eject it properly when you are done. A very good idea indeed, many people forget to back up.

[perose]

Could I store a whole programme on it ?

[whifffey]

p.s. don't get embroigled into debates about how fast it is, transer rates, that sort of thing. For backups you don't really care. I right-click-copy and paste whole folders onto my USB drive and watch tv while it gets on with it. Whether it takes 3 minutes or 30 is not important.

[Postdog]

Programmes on your "C" - data backup on the external is best.

[another-view]

Most programmes require a "set up" file. You should back this up or ensure you have the original software. Just use the external disc to back up your family tree data.

[perose]

Thanks to all of you, think I must order one NOW !

[whifffey]

Many games and applications install into the Program Files folder. With an external hard drive, just right-click-copy your entire Program Files folder to the new drive and make a cup of tea while it is copying it. With the inherent reliability of modern hard drives (I have never had a drive failure) you are unlikely to need it, but there are other reasons, e.g. accidental deletion, why having a backup is such a very good idea.

[VHG]

>Could I store a whole programme on it ?

You would not store the program.

You store the DATA the program uses.

So your family history program will store the data in one or more files.

You need to copy those FILES to the external drive.

It is also a good idea to get into the habit of copying the latest copy of the data to the external drive BEFORE making major updates.

That way if it all goes wrong you at least have the most recent working copy as backup.

Also, dont overwrite the last backup on the external drive with the new one, that way if it goes wrong you never have a good backup to go back to.

Best to create a folder with todays date with maybe BU in front (BU290609) then copy the files to that.

Next day create a folder called BU300609 and copy todays backup to that and so on.

Doing that you have a working copy going back weeks or months.

If you run out of space delete the oldest backups.

[VHG]

Another thing about backups.

While it is a good idea to have back up on an external hard drive, bear in mind things can go wrong.

Your computer could crash and you lose all the data, you could have a burglary and the PC / external drive could be stolen.

To save you having to spend ages recreating your family history try to backup to CD or DVD on a regular basis.

A CD or DVD is good because the data cannot be deleted, and if your PC is stolen at least you have a backup in a cupboard somwhere.

Not enough people spend time making backups or copying data to external hard drive.

You can NEVER have too many backups.

[magicmerlin]

Check these hard drives, many small enough to fit in a jacket pocket.

http://www.cclonline.com/product-categories.as p?category_id=700