Posted by Yoli/CA on 9/16/12 3:01pm
Msg #434633

Portable hard drive backup

Today, I'm searching for a portable hard drive with backup software. There's a lot out there to choose from. Any suggestions/recommendations?

Also, for the techies on NotRot: How do I know if I have USB 2.0 or 3.0?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Reply by Barb25 on 9/16/12 3:09pm
Msg #434636

Device Manager: Right click on My Computer>Hardware>Device Manager. Look under the Universal Serial Bus Controllers, you will see anything associated with USB 3.0. Otherwise you have USB 2.0 and that is what you should see. ... Simple answer.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 9/16/12 3:16pm
Msg #434637

Easy enough. Thanks, Barb! n/m

Reply by jba/fl on 9/16/12 5:38pm
Msg #434648

I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

When my system crashed, all was set and ready to go. I was very happy to just transfer to new computer and continue as though nothing happened. I back up daily, but you can use your own preferences.

I also had an attack of some sort during the day so unplugged the FreeAgent immediately since it backs up at night and was in between backups and was able to isolate and get rid of the malware before corrupting the backup.

Reply by sueharke on 9/16/12 6:26pm
Msg #434657

Re: I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

I use windows and use Acronis backup software program. I have restored an entire harddrive from a USB backup drive in less than 2 hours when the operating system became corrupt (would not work correctly). I agree that backup, backup, backup is essential with any computer.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/16/12 7:03pm
Msg #434658

Re: I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

I bought one of those recently, too. It comes with a basic software program built-in for automatic back-ups.

It was on sale at Costco, and as I was trying to decide which size to get, I asked a guy there also looking at them if he knew anything about them. He said "Yeah, a little... I used to design these things." He talked me into buying more storage than what I had planned (3 TB vs. 1 TB) and probably more than what I'll ever need. But I'll be able to save tons of music, videos, photos, etc. (which I have very little of now) in addition to data and other software. (The difference in price was very little, so it made sense to me to go with the larger one. I paid about $60 to $80 less than what I've seen it for elsewhere.)

BTW, does anyone know how to back up programs, as well as data on this thing, or does that happen automatically? Thanks.

I'm in tech update overload these days... I think I've managed to figure out at least the basics on my new cell phone, I'm managing to deal with going from MS Office 2003 to 2010 (although much to still learn & do), and I just now finally got the Seagate back-up operational on my newish laptop. (Thanks for the reminder, Yoli!) But if any other technology device I own requires replacing soon, I may be ready for the looney bin. (Oh, and did I mention that my TV died right in the middle of the Olympics? I finally got into the current century on that, too. Not looking forward to the bills coming in, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. )

Reply by MikeC/TX on 9/16/12 8:00pm
Msg #434667

Re: I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

"BTW, does anyone know how to back up programs, as well as data on this thing, or does that happen automatically?"

It's done automatically - you can only tell it the drive you want to back up, you can't tell it what to back up, it just grabs everything.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/16/12 8:10pm
Msg #434670

Awesome! Thanks!

I have it plugged into a USB 3 port and I think it took less than 30 minutes to copy the entire hard drive! I'm not sure, because I was able to continue to work on other things at the same time. Very much worth the investment - and the short-term stress of making changes! Thanks for the info!

Reply by MikeC/TX on 9/17/12 10:57am
Msg #434723

Re: Awesome! Thanks!

Make sure you take the time to make a rescue CD.

Reply by sueharke on 9/16/12 10:46pm
Msg #434686

Re: I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

Acronis is a program that will backup the entire harddrive -- including the operating system and data. It was also BU the first sector of the harddrive and reproduce it on a new harddrive. I suggest reading about this program and make your own decision. It has served me well for several years for several computers.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 9/17/12 1:43am
Msg #434690

Re: I use a Seagate FreeAgent Go

Actually, someone else I know, and whose opinion I respect, recommended that program, too. She said it has served her and her husband very well, also. Something else to read up on. Thanks.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 9/16/12 7:55pm
Msg #434666

Seagate's FreeAgent drives are a good choice - you can get them at Costco with anything from 1TB to 3TB of storage. The software included automatically backs up your hard drives as the data changes, and it is pretty much seamless (I did have a problem with one program that did not play well with the Seagate software, but resolved it by pausing the automatic backup whenever I needed to use that program). I have the 2TB drive, which is more than enough to backup up my main hard drive and a second portable drive. The Seagate software creates recovery points and ages off the older stuff as it needs to, but after 6 months or so of use I still have more than a TB of space available for backups.

As far as USB2.0 vs USB3.0 - unless you have a very new computer, you probably don't have USB 3.0. The Seagate drive supports USB 3.0, so I bought a USB 3.0 card on Amazon and installed it in my computer - no problems, works like a champ, and I think it cost me about $30 or less. Of course, if you're not comfortable with doing surgery on your computer this may not be an option for you... The difference between the two is speed of data transfer, but you'll do fine with USB 2.0 if that's all you have available.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/17/12 8:27am
Msg #434701

I use "Click Free" & my tech guy set it up so that it backs

up things like my QB Simple Start. Otherwise, a see devices at Costco all the time.

Reply by jojo_MN on 9/17/12 10:32am
Msg #434718

I use the Seagate. The only thing is you need to be be careful. I never use automatic backup because my computer was hijacked a year ago. One of the things he did was put a virus on the computer. Since I had automatic backup at 2:00 in the morning, it backed up the virus and into the Seagate. Learned a huge lesson. After all the time and money to fix, I now run Spybot and a couple other virus programs, then back up one a week and immediately unplug the Seagate until time for the next backup. Haven't had any other problems since. Also, I quit using IE and switched to Firefox at the recommendation of HP and a few computer professionals.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 9/17/12 10:38am
Msg #434720

With everyone's input, I've decided to go with Seagate FreeAgent Goflex 2TB.

jojo: Thanks for that extra little tip about auto backup!

Mike: Please see pm re conversion surgery to 3.0.

Again, THANK YOU EVERYONE!! NotRot family rocks!