Computer Question- External Hard Drive Setup

Woodtroll

Woodtroll

Joined
Oct 15, 2001
Messages
193
Okay, folks, I don't know anywhere else to ask this question, and I know there are computer folks here, so hopefully it is not too far out of line.

I have purchased a 500gb external hard drive hoping to take some of the load/ memory space off of my main computer. It connects by USB port and has its own power supply. My main computer is an older Dell 2400 with Windows XP. I am not very computer literate, so please be gentle. ;) I have three separate purposes for using this hard drive:

1.Clean backup of my current computer's files, including operating system
2.Picture storage
3.Music file storage

My questions are,

1.How do I back up everything on my current computer to the external drive, but keep it from being accessed during routine use? If I just copy and paste "C" drive to this device, does it save registry settings and everything needed to restore a crashed computer? Is there a better way to accomplish this?
2.If I move all my music files over to the external drive, will I still be able to access them with Windows Media Player installed on my main computer ("C" drive)?
3.Otherwise, I assume this will work like any other USB device or flash drive- if I want to save pictures or documents to it, it will just be "H" drive or something like that, right?

Any insight would be most appreciated! Take care,
Regan
 
for the question 1, you need a disk cloning program (like Ghost), that creates an image of the file system you choose, including information of the boot sector.
it is better to have a partition that is used only for the operating system, and some programs, while keeping your other data, like music, movies, photos, whatever, on other partitions
in this case, you can make an image just for the operating system partition, and only restore that in case you encounter problems.
the other data can be just copied around to make backups.
as for questions 2 and 3, you are correct.
 
Simply copying the C drive doesn't work too well. That will attempt to copy the Windows swap file which changes constantly. Nova Backup and Norton Ghost work well for creating a disaster recovery file.
 
Woodtroll said:
Okay, folks, I don't know anywhere else to ask this question, and I know there are computer folks here, so hopefully it is not too far out of line.

I have purchased a 500gb external hard drive hoping to take some of the load/ memory space off of my main computer. It connects by USB port and has its own power supply. My main computer is an older Dell 2400 with Windows XP. I am not very computer literate, so please be gentle. ;) I have three separate purposes for using this hard drive:

1.Clean backup of my current computer's files, including operating system
2.Picture storage
3.Music file storage

My questions are,

1.How do I back up everything on my current computer to the external drive, but keep it from being accessed during routine use? If I just copy and paste "C" drive to this device, does it save registry settings and everything needed to restore a crashed computer? Is there a better way to accomplish this?
2.If I move all my music files over to the external drive, will I still be able to access them with Windows Media Player installed on my main computer ("C" drive)?
3.Otherwise, I assume this will work like any other USB device or flash drive- if I want to save pictures or documents to it, it will just be "H" drive or something like that, right?

Any insight would be most appreciated! Take care,
Regan
Click to expand...

I would recommend you copy your entire "My Documents" folder over to the new external drive (R. click cut/copy in My Documents, R. Click Paste into H:\). You should not have to copy the entire C:\ over, as Yablanowitz mentioned it could create some potential problems that would be over your head.. Provided your EHD is connected and powered up to your computer at all times, you should have no issues playing music. You are correct, the only thing is that the drive letter will change from C:\ to H:\ or whatever letter is available.
You are correct again in that anything you save from then on will be saved over to H:\.
The integrated back up option in Windows XP works relatively well. Go through the "set up wizard" and you can pick what files you want saved, what folders, how often it abcks up, and to what drive (H:\ in this case).
As an addition, I would invest in a decent battery back up. In case of a power surge or power failure it gives you time to shut your computer down safely as well as protecting your machine from getting zapped. A good surge strip will work if funds are tight.
 
Thanks VERY much for all the help, folks! It really is very useful.

I purchased the Seagate OneTouch4 Plus, and the user information that came with it was HORRIBLE, at least for someone as computer illiterate as I! I was pretty intimidated by it, afraid to lose something or really mess my computer up. I dug around some on the internet, found some tutorials for this particular drive, and now have it all set up, except for the backup copy of my C-drive OS and registry information. This external drive has the software capability to copy all that easily on its own (it says!), but I have not yet tried it because I am waiting on my wife to weed all her pictures off of C drive onto the external before I copy it over.

I already have a battery backup/surge protector, as our rural power company is notoriously problem-ridden, but that is a great suggestion.

I'll also take a look at the DriveImage- another great suggestion.

Thanks again, hope you have a great day!
 
I defy anyone to find a less computer savy guy than I am. What I use is a Toshiba Terrabyte external to back up my Toshiba lap top. It uses a program called "Back Up Now EZ", and seems to work fine.

To save my video, music and picture files for easy access, I use a 500 GB Maxell external, and just drag and click when I save to that drive.
 
Though I'm not a windows guy (primarily a Macintosh user) I cannot comment on a good backup program, but I would like to suggest using a separate drive for your music and pictures.
That way it wouldn't interfere with your "clone" back up. I would also like to suggest having an extra back up to keep off-site in case anything happens.

I'm a firm believer in redundancy and when it comes to computer HDs, each one will fail its just a matter of when.
So as a friendly reminder "two is one, one is none" :) and print those photos, well the really nice ones!

oh and never fill up a drive to maximum :) I currently forget the technical explanation, but its best for a drive not to be full so it has space to work with and less chances of it crashing.
 
For picture and document storage, I unhesitatingly advise paying for a supplemental 'cloud-based' online storage BACKUP.

I also use a large Secondary HD, but it has a backup to Amazon every night for selected folders. I have 50gb of files which, if my house burns down (or tornado?) I still can get my files.

One never knows. Those type of files are personal (or, in my case, business), and require added protection.

Coop
 
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