New External Hard Drive
Apr 29, 2019 13:27:55 #
Hi Hogs,
Just thought I’d ask for some quick advice on replacing my external hard drive. I’m almost out of space on my current EHD, plus it’s pretty old. So I want a new one, with greater capacity. (Current one has less capacity that my PC’s drives.) Couple of quick questions.
My current EHD is a WD Passport. It’s been fine, so I thought I’d buy another Passport. Any thoughts on these models? Other models I could consider?
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working? (Obviously, the initial back would be everything, so it would take hours.)
Thank you.
Just thought I’d ask for some quick advice on replacing my external hard drive. I’m almost out of space on my current EHD, plus it’s pretty old. So I want a new one, with greater capacity. (Current one has less capacity that my PC’s drives.) Couple of quick questions.
My current EHD is a WD Passport. It’s been fine, so I thought I’d buy another Passport. Any thoughts on these models? Other models I could consider?
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working? (Obviously, the initial back would be everything, so it would take hours.)
Thank you.
Apr 29, 2019 13:40:44 #
I would suggest you take a look at a SSD drive. No moving parts and sizes up into the Terra byte range. The one I bought fits easily into a shirt pocket.
Apr 29, 2019 13:44:08 #
John_F wrote:
I would suggest you take a look at a SSD drive. No moving parts and sizes up into the Terra byte range. The one I bought fits easily into a shirt pocket.
Thanks. Have two drives on my PC, one of which is SSD. I know it helps with very quick startup and shutdown. I keep programs there, but I've been told it's not good for archival file storage for the long term. (It's also pretty small.) What would the advantage of an SSD EHD be? No moving parts so might last longer? I've had my current EHD since 2013, so I'm not really worried about how quickly a new EHD might fail. And portability not something I care about at all in this context.
Apr 29, 2019 13:56:40 #
I have two WD Passport Ultras. I would have no problem getting another (or two) in a larger capacity.
(Mine fit in a shirt pocket too. I refer to them as "pocket drives".)
(BTW - EHD is short for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. No one I know uses it to refer to an external hard drive. That would be like me using WE for Windows Explorer because I don't want to type it out. Nobody knows what WE would be, other than a cable TV channel.
)
(Mine fit in a shirt pocket too. I refer to them as "pocket drives".)
(BTW - EHD is short for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. No one I know uses it to refer to an external hard drive. That would be like me using WE for Windows Explorer because I don't want to type it out. Nobody knows what WE would be, other than a cable TV channel.
)Apr 29, 2019 14:07:33 #
I've used the Passports and they're pretty decent drives. However, I don't trust completely, any on-site back-up solution.
I'd consider a 4TB WD as a local solution. I noticed that Best Buy has them for around $150.
You don't mention if you're using a cloud solution, but I'd recommend that you subscribe sooner, rather than later. Both local and cloud are the only way to go.
PS - I replaced my spin-up 2TB drive on my Dell desktop with a Samsung 2TB SSD. Love the improved performance. I'm in the process of converting the old 2TB drive to an external backup source.
I'd consider a 4TB WD as a local solution. I noticed that Best Buy has them for around $150.
You don't mention if you're using a cloud solution, but I'd recommend that you subscribe sooner, rather than later. Both local and cloud are the only way to go.
PS - I replaced my spin-up 2TB drive on my Dell desktop with a Samsung 2TB SSD. Love the improved performance. I'm in the process of converting the old 2TB drive to an external backup source.
Apr 29, 2019 14:11:42 #
Apr 29, 2019 16:24:49 #
I purchased a 8TB WD drive it took 3 days to backup al my files. Choose carefully as this will take a while and you do not want to do it twice...
BTW the WD drive is problem free and I am happy with it.
BTW the WD drive is problem free and I am happy with it.
Apr 29, 2019 16:26:32 #
Can anyone advise re how to implement the new backup? My question, again, is:
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working?
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working?
Apr 29, 2019 16:33:28 #
globetrekker wrote:
Can anyone advise re how to implement the new backup? My question, again, is:
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working?
I use Windows to back up to my EHD, on a weekly basis. When I install the new EHD, should I delete the current backup scheme in Windows, and start over and create a new one? Or if I just swap out my old and new EHDs, will the existing backup scheme keep working?
I do my own, so...
? Does the current backup scheme use a drive letter designation in the backup set? If so, you'll have to modify it if the new drive gets assigned a different drive designation (ie. L:). If the new drive uses the same designation as the old drive, you should be okay.
Apr 29, 2019 16:39:05 #
In my Windows backup, the location is: My Passport (G:)
So once I plug in the new EHD, if it shows up as G, does that mean I can continue to use the existing backup scheme?
So once I plug in the new EHD, if it shows up as G, does that mean I can continue to use the existing backup scheme?
Apr 29, 2019 16:45:37 #
globetrekker wrote:
In my Windows backup, the location is: My Passport (G:)
So once I plug in the new EHD, if it shows up as G, does that mean I can continue to use the existing backup scheme?
So once I plug in the new EHD, if it shows up as G, does that mean I can continue to use the existing backup scheme?
I would think so.
Just unplug the old drive or it will definitely give the new drive another designation, like H:
You should be able to dismount (eject) and unplug the old one;
plug the new one in and Explorer will ask about it;
and you can see what drive designation it was given.
If different than G:, you will have to modify the back up set to use the new drive designation (letter).
Apr 29, 2019 16:50:14 #
Great, thanks Longshadow (what a great username!). I still have to procure the new EHD, but will implement this soon.
Apr 29, 2019 21:38:38 #
Paul Moshay
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Over the years I have had two backup EHD's go bad on me. The first one cost me $2600 to get the data off of it, probably as much as I earned putting it on. The second time the disk was so damaged that nothing could be recovered. Those two experiences made me think about a better plan. I bought two 3TB Seagate drives to use for the EHD's. I upload the data to each one separately, I do not RAID them at all. Each one plugs into the confuser as a separate entity and they have exactly the same data on each. Now if one goes down I just smash it with a big hammer, buy another HD, copy the other one to the new one and all's well with my world. The chance that two HD's would die at the same time is so remote I don't think about it. Also, as others have suggested, the Cloud is great for off-premises storage.
Remember, he who laughs last has backups!
Remember, he who laughs last has backups!
Apr 29, 2019 21:51:41 #
Paul Moshay wrote:
Over the years I have had two backup EHD's go bad ... (show quote)
Confused...
If it was a backup, why not just get another drive and make another backup? Why pay to recover it?
Apr 29, 2019 22:15:28 #
Paul Moshay
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Sorry, I wasn't remembering correctly, it was a very long time ago. Actually, now that you said that, it was the HD in my computer and not a backup at all, at that time maybe 20 years ago, I never thought of having an EHD backup. Lesson learned.
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