External hard drive
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- Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 11:33 AM
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Flying by the seat of my pants I have never bothered to back up anything on my computer.
Not wanting to waste money on the wrong, unnecessary or overpriced product can anybody recommend a half decent and reliable external hard drive - as they seem the best option.
Cheers as always guys
Truth is like a threshing machine; tender sensibilities must keep out of the way.
Herman Melville
Fixed! Go to the fix.
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 11:57 AM
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I have a Seagate Backup Slim 1TB that i use as a fix everything drive and for quick backup device when working on computers for people, anything along those lines should work great, get one that is powered by the USB though, no need to mess around with extra power connections that way.
I can't knock it at all even with Seagates not so stellar reviews of harddrive life, I've had it 2 years without a single issue.
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 12:05 PM
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Got any old PVR's kicking about?
You could always rob one out of that, pop on to an internet auction site and pick up a very cheap usb to HDD lead, possible a caddy/housing too...
I wouldn't put an operating system on one, as PVR HDD's are different to a PC/Laptop HDD, but they can be used for almost anything, I'd go down down this route if it was me;)
(and most basic PVR's start at 160GB up to 500GB)
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 12:42 PM
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Thanks guys, just spotted this on a Tesco site, but will it work with my Windows 10? I suspect it will but just a bit unsure.
http://www.tesco.com/direct/toshiba-1tb-usb-30-external-hard-drive-black/363-2371.prd?skuId=363-2371
Truth is like a threshing machine; tender sensibilities must keep out of the way.
Herman Melville
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 12:45 PM
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Although it states W7 and W8, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine;)
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 1:29 PM - edited 12-01-2017 1:33 PM
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I reformatted one to a Linux file system and it works on USB2 or USB3.
It's only a disk on the end of a USB cable - mine was a Seagate unit.
It can receive sufficient power from USB3, but for USB2 a separate mains brick is preferable.
Are cable(s) supplied?
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 1:31 PM
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I've been puzzling over that USB2 and USB3, what's the difference?
Truth is like a threshing machine; tender sensibilities must keep out of the way.
Herman Melville
12-01-2017 1:36 PM
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USB3 is faster but it is backward compatible with USB2 and USB1.
The USB3 sockets in computers are identical in appearance except for the code of the plastic tab inside which is normally blue.
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 1:36 PM
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Speed.
USB2 480Mbits/sec
USB3 3Gbits/sec
Of course it doesn't go faster than the disk inside.
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 1:53 PM
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I did find though that putting a SATA disk drive recovered from an old laptop into a disk caddy supposedly suitable for USB3 resulted in numerous R/W errors when it was plugged into a USB3 socket on the PC. Worked fine however on the USB2 socket. I assume the data throughput on the USB3 socket was too fast for the disk firmware.
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 4:26 PM - edited 12-01-2017 4:27 PM
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A single backup copy isn't really a backup, especially if it's kept on-site with your computer
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 4:56 PM
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Can't speak for other OS's, but on Win7 I create system images using the built-in utility, and also do back-ups using Comodo - never had to use any backup yet, but it seems to make sense to have more than one type using different utilities in case one won't restore. Don't forget to make a recovery disc too to enable you to boot up your PC if the OS fails completely.
(I used to make additional backup copies of my 'personal' folder using Windows Explorer to drag and drop multiple folders to the external HDD, but for some months I've only been able to copy one folder at a time and I have yet to find out why.)
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 11:10 PM
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What volume of data do you need to back-up? 1TB might be overkill if you don't have a lot of photos, videos or music.
Re: External hard drive
12-01-2017 11:36 PM
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The difference in price between a small (500GB) and medium (1TB) is not great.
2TB or 3TB are rather expensive though (£100+).
"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."
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