Computer Advice Needed

[white avenger]

I'm hoping that someone here can help me with this. My computer hard drive just destroyed itself, so I'm having to have a new one installed (luckily I only lost a small part of my files). Once the new one is installed and set up, I was wanting to download the entire computer program on a portable disc drive so that if it ever happens again, I can have a backup to download onto the new one.

So, here's the question: can I download the entire contents of my p c hard drive onto any portable that has enough space, or does it take a special type?

[~angelic slayer~]

As far as I know, any kind of device that's designed for file storage will do the job, it's more so the capacity of the device that you need to worry about. First off, figure out how many GB's of data you want to store, then go from there.

If you have....

Less than 1GB-8ishGB of Data:
Your best bet is probably a flash drive (may also be called a "memory stick", "memory key", etc). Something like this. (http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/USB_Memory_Keys/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=A1274953)

Larger Amounts of Data:
Here is when you get into "External Hard Drives" like this one (http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/External_Hard_Drives/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=A0624907). My brother has one of these for backup and swears by it (I'm not sure exactly how they work-- hopefully someone else will be able to explain this better!).



I have a small, 4GB memory key that plugs into my USB port and I can backup my files on that without problems. But again, I only backup my personal files, not my entire hard drive. So again, size is what you want to figure out first. If you're looking to back up JUST your important/ often used files, then I would definitely suggest a memory key. Otherwise, something LIKE the External Hard Drive may be your better bet.

I hope that makes sense! It's good to hear that you managed to keep most of your files!:)

[Aethra]

As ~as~ said, if you want to back up all your files, an external harddrive is the way to go. They're very simple to work. They plug in through your USB port, and you can open it through "My Computer." Just drag the files you want backed up, and they'll be copied. They come in all sorts of sizes, from smaller (~80 GB) to large (320+ GB), and they're good for backing up files on your harddrive AND storing files so you can delete the ones from your computer. Say you have a vide or music file in your external that isn't on your computer. You can still view/play it without having to move it back. Very handy!
I'm actually very coomputerstupid, though, so this is as much as I can help.

I have no idea how it works on a Mac though!

[Dlou444]

I'm not sure this will help, but I have two hard drives. Both internal, but I figure external would do the job. (I've seen some of those go kaput though, so I got scared.)

Anywho, I have all the stuff that I either don't care if I lose or I have disks for on the one hard drive with Windows. Then I keep everything else on the other hard drive. (Pictures, stupid stuff that only I care about or programs I don't have disks for.)

Everytime anything goes wrong, I just reformat the C drive and start (or buy a new computer) and then hook the 2nd one up as a "slave" and WHA-LA! I've carried it to 3 computers now and through umpteen formats. (I have Vista, I have to deal with a LOT of crap!) But, I swear, it's worked EVERY TIME and I never have to worry about losing that info!

[Mr. Pointy]

I was going to suggest an external HDD but I see I've been beaten to it (again! :)) - in the UK they have reduced almost exponentially in price and I've no resson to suppose the US is any different in that regard :)

If you use any OS other than Windows (especially Apples), I think you need to watch out how the disk is formatted. If this applies and you're like me and don't know your FAT32 from your elbow let me know and I'll ask my tech-savvy stepson :)

Edit:

Dammit! That should read 'reason' above and my ability to edit is compromised here at work...the Spelling Nazi is gonna get me good :)