Data Back-Up Options

[mtnagel]

So, I just bought a DVD burner with a big intention to use it to back-up my data (some random files and ~1.5 gb of pictures). I've seen on TechTV that they've said that an external hd is a good option to back-up your data and that we don't know the lifespan of burned media. Some manufacturers claim many years, but they have seen as little as 18 months. Now, I've had some problems with burned media that wasn't stored properly (no cases, all stacked together), but I have a cd that still works after at least 5 years on generic CD-R media.

Anyway, I thought about getting an external drive and a USB 2.0 card, but then I tried this 40 gb hd that I had lying around that I thought was dead. Turns out, it works fine. So, I've been copying the data over to that hard drive (as well as keeping copies on the original. Is there any reason why this isn't a good back-up option? Is there any reason to think that an external drive would fail less often than an internal one? I figure that it would be rare that both drives would die at the same time, so I'd always have a working copy of the files. I've also continued to use DVD RW's to also back-up (I even keep copies at work so that I have them in a location away from my computer).

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
Matt

 

[johnjkr1]

"I tried this 40 gb hd that I had lying around that I thought was dead. Turns out, it works fine"

well, that does not sound like the best backup option that I have ever heard of. I would be sure to fully test it out with the manufacturers diagnostic before trusting it.

As for internal vs. external drives, they will fail at the same rate, except that external drives recieve more abuse, especially if you take it places with you. They are not made to take bumps or drops from travel.

 

[mtnagel]

Originally posted by: johnjkr1
"I tried this 40 gb hd that I had lying around that I thought was dead. Turns out, it works fine"

well, that does not sound like the best backup option that I have ever heard of. I would be sure to fully test it out with the manufacturers diagnostic before trusting it.

The drive in question is a 5400 rpm 40 gb Western Digital that is probably a couple years old. I had it partitioned into 2 partitions and when I tried to merge the 2, I got an error and I lost all the data (I got most back with a data recovery program). I reformatted and tried reinstalling Windows on it and it kept failing. I got a new (to me) computer from a friend and I just put that drive on the side and I had pretty much wrote it off until I just tried it in the new computer and it worked fine. So I assume there is nothing wrong with it now. I can try to run the diagnostics from WD to see what they say.

Matt

 

[johnjkr1]

I think testing it out would be a good idea, to be on the safe side. You dont want to lose all that stuff.

 

[mtnagel]

So how does everyone else back-up their data?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

I burn cd's, 5 cd's holds all my pictures, 10 cd's hold my mp3's, I just burn them by date of which ones haven't already been archived. btw, I have some cd's I burned back when 4x burners where the hottest thing on the block that still read perfectly. (something like 6 or 7 years ago)

 

[mtnagel]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
I burn cd's, 5 cd's holds all my pictures, 10 cd's hold my mp3's, I just burn them by date of which ones haven't already been archived. btw, I have some cd's I burned back when 4x burners where the hottest thing on the block that still read perfectly. (something like 6 or 7 years ago)

That sounds like a pain. How often do you do that? Or do you just keep adding until it's full and then never touch it again? See, some of my data are files that get updated, so I have to keep burning the same files over and over.

BTW, my old burns are from a Sony 4x that I've had since 1999! I actually still have it, but it's not installed.

 

[vietofmars]

You can get rewriteable media.

 

[mtnagel]

Originally posted by: vietofmars
You can get rewriteable media.

That's what I use.