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External Hard Drive

roguerower

roguerower

Diamond Member
I am looking to buy an external hard drive because I usually reformat my hard drive every 6months to a year to keep it flowing smoothly and to ensure that all the crap gets taken care of. I am on a laptop and would like to be able to take my movies, put them on the external and then unplug them when I go to class. Are there any external drives out there that you guys would recommend? I am looking for something less than $150, preferably under $100 (college students are poor). I don't need a monster (>500gb) but something a little smaller like a 60gb-120gb. This will be used mostly for storing movies and music. Any games will be put on my laptop. USB 2.0 is only option.
 
I just picked up a WD My Book (160G) at Staples. I copied the essential files over to that, reformatted my computer HD then moved the files back over. Works great so far. I think it is on sale right now, and it is USB.
 
250 GB for $100 on the GottaDeal.com main page.

Also you might want to buy a copy of Acronis True Image to allow making an image of the next Windows fresh install. You can then restore that image to get the effect of a reformat with a lot less work.
 
I built my own. I would recommend this enclosure for $48 shipped from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817146602

Here is a nice, quiet 120gb Seagate hard drive for $62 shipped, also from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148094

All you need is a screwdriver to put them together, then format the drive to NTFS and you're good to go. That enclosure supports both USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 connections, so you can use whichever you prefer. As far as software goes, I use type types of software: file backup and system backup. For file backup, I use Replicator. Replicator is a free backup tool from Karen's Power Tools; just specify what files/folders you want it to back up to and where and you're done. You can do the backup either manually (which I prefer) or schedule it. Here's a link:

http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

As far as system backup software, I use either Norton Ghost or BartPE with the DriveImageXML plugin. Basically, you install Windows, activate it, install the latest service packs and updates, install your favorite software, and then create a clone of it so you can simply reclone it to your main hard drive down the road without having to reinstall everything. When you reclone it, you just have to run Windows Update to get the latest updates and install whatever new software you've gotten during that time. I typically use Norton Ghost to make backup CD/DVD discs (bootable), but it can also backup to file on an external hard drive. Here's my tutorial on making backup discs, but to backup to a hard drive just select hard drive instead of disc when backing up:

http://www.wiredbynature.org/comp/ghost/

If you poke around online you can usually get it for under $20 shipped. If you'd prefer a free version, I'd recommend using BartPE with the DriveImageXML plugin. It requires more work intially, but works great for system backup:

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Here's the plugin you'll need to incorporate into the boot disc:

http://www.runtime.org/peb.htm

Good luck! 🙂
 
Since you are on a laptop, consider an external 2.5 Firewire or USB 2 external case. That gives you a way of using your old laptop hard drive should you upgrade its HDD. Just a thought.

I upgraded my 100 GB Seagate in my laptop to a 160 GB Seagate. Then I put the 100 GB into just such a case, and it now archives all my digital photo images - 1000s of them.
 
Thanks everyone for your help. Corky, i never thought about doing that. I have a 100gb which is the one I want to reformat but it replaced the 40gb hd that came stock with the laptop. I looked on newegg and found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145329

Have you heard anything about this? This saves me tons of money since all I have to do is buy the case since I already have the drive.

EDIT: Should I use the 40gb (4200rpm) or 100gb (5400rpm) as my main hdd?
 
I've got the 120G My Book and am limited to 4G/backup file. I heard you can format the drive for NTFS, but there may be "issues" doing this. Can anyone comment on this? I want to backup certain files at least once a week and it seems like I am limited to 4G/backup, which forces me to create multiple backup files. Would formatting to NTFS resolve this?
 
Originally posted by: roguerower
Thanks everyone for your help. Corky, i never thought about doing that. I have a 100gb which is the one I want to reformat but it replaced the 40gb hd that came stock with the laptop. I looked on newegg and found this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145329
Have you heard anything about this? This saves me tons of money since all I have to do is buy the case since I already have the drive.
EDIT: Should I use the 40gb (4200rpm) or 100gb (5400rpm) as my main hdd?
Click to expand...
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That case will work just fine. As was said in one of the reviews, you may need to use a 5 vdc power module. That does make it more reliable.

I have quite a few of these little cases - makes for a good use of upgraded laptop drives. 🙂

I would put the bigger, faster drive in the laptop, and just use the external for data storage or whatever.
 
Roger. Looks like I know where the porn is going. 🙂

Thanks for all you help. I ordered the case today, should get it soon and I'll update on it.
 
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