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brent warner
08-23-2009, 12:29 PM
what do you use an external hard drive for,and how do you use it?

thanks, brent :confused:

Stephen Tashiro
08-23-2009, 12:35 PM
I use them to back-up data. If you have many pictures that you want to save, you will have more data that can fit on on a DVD or USB memory stick. Rather than make several DVDs or use several memory sticks, I find it simpler to copy my whole home directory (under Linux) to an external drive.

When you plug in a device like a USB memory stick or put a DVD in your drive, modern computers usually recongnize that you did this and add them to the list of devices on your computer. An external hard drive should work the same way after it has been configured correctly.

Ken Fitzgerald
08-23-2009, 1:03 PM
Brent,

My wife is an avid amateur photographer.

Periodically we will back up all of her most recent photographs on a 1T I-book given to us.

We then unplug it from the system. If the computer crashes and dies a slow death, we have her precious photos that can be transferred to a new computer.

Jay Jolliffe
08-23-2009, 3:35 PM
How hard is it to transfer date from a PC to a dual platform Mac.I'm thinking changing to a Mac & Id like to transfer invoices done in Microsoft office to a Mac with Microsoft office.

Michael Wetzel
08-23-2009, 3:47 PM
How hard is it to transfer date from a PC to a dual platform Mac.I'm thinking changing to a Mac & Id like to transfer invoices done in Microsoft office to a Mac with Microsoft office.

Should be able to use a USB key, usb drive, firewire drive, etc..

Chuck Wintle
08-23-2009, 4:19 PM
Brent,

My wife is an avid amateur photographer.

Periodically we will back up all of her most recent photographs on a 1T I-book given to us.

We then unplug it from the system. If the computer crashes and dies a slow death, we have her precious photos that can be transferred to a new computer.
Thats a good idea to use an external drive for backup storage. Do you burn them to dvd periodically?

Stephen Tashiro
08-24-2009, 1:09 AM
Also, the standard practice in big companies is for some backups (whatever media they are on) to be stored at a location that is remote from the machines that have the original information. That way a fire or natural disaster is unlikely to destroy both the original and the backup. The home owners version of this policy can be to store backups in different buildings if possible.

Robert Parrish
08-24-2009, 8:18 AM
I have a network with several pc's and one mac and it is easy to transfer files between systems. I also have a 1 terabyte Time Capsule for backups of my Mac using Time Machine and for photo storage.

Steve Rozmiarek
08-24-2009, 9:36 AM
Also, the standard practice in big companies is for some backups (whatever media they are on) to be stored at a location that is remote from the machines that have the original information. That way a fire or natural disaster is unlikely to destroy both the original and the backup. The home owners version of this policy can be to store backups in different buildings if possible.


I use an off site backup service for my not so big company. The rates are reasonable, and the peace of mind is well worth it. It all happens automatically as well, so my not being a tech guru is not a big deal. Lost my Intuit data file a while back during an attempted server software update, and we where able to just restore from the offsite. That alone saved weeks of work.

Matt Meiser
08-24-2009, 9:55 AM
I do "off site" backups by backing my data up to a USB drive attached to my shop PC. The shop is 80+' from the house and my insurance agent says that the odds of losing both buildings in a disaster is very small. We also occasionally (and its been a long time so I should do a new one) back up our photos to DVD and take them to my parents' house.

For work I use a big USB drive for backups (Norton Ghost and daily file copies.) I use a small one for VMWare images because I find they actually run faster on a USB drive than my laptop's built-in drive.

Memory sticks for file sharing when networking is inconvenient.

Eric Larsen
08-25-2009, 12:20 AM
The days of backing up to a CD or DVD-Rom are basically over. 4.7GB doesn't even hold a typical vacation's worth of photos/video anymore.

I buy whatever external has the best GB/$ ratio and back up to that.

Perhaps Blu-Ray writable disks will come down to a price that makes them a viable option. But presently that is not the case.