Verbatim External (portable) Hard Drive

[dyne]

Today at 2 PM I purchased a Verbatim 250 gb Portable (external) hard drive which
connects to a UB port. I thought it said on the box that it was compatible with my
Windows 2000 Professional Operating System but the first message it gave was that
the backup software included was NOT compatible with my OS. So, I used my
other software to attempt to back up my entire 80 gb hard drive data. Within an hour it had
given error messages THREE times and stopped backing up. I returned it and got
my money back.
I also realized that I must eject this drive as I do a flash drive before turning my computer
off because my main computer will not start up when ANYTHING is connected to
a UB port. My backup computer will start up with a flash drive, etc. connected to the
UB port. I will continue to back up to several flash drives.

[taxea]

You should update your windows os to xp.

[dyne]

No, when I had my two computers built six years ago I asked the builder what was the
best windows software. He answered Windows 2000 Professional. I like it very much.
It has NEVER crashed or failed so I am very happy with it. I hope to go to Windows
7 when I get a new computer which has a solid state drive and NO hard drive. I have had
TWO hard drives to fail.

[FEDUKE404]

No need to back up everything

You are probably working with a ticking time bomb by not having Win 7 on your newer computer. (Yes, I still routinely run Win XP but the Grim Reaper is out there somewhere.)

As for backing up your entire hard drive, in many instances you are spinning your wheels (as well as your drives!) unnecessarily. What you should be doing is backing up your data files, which can be done on a regular basis far more quickly. Even a flash drive, or a rotating series of same, can frequently fulfill that purpose. This approach assumes, of course, that you have copies of the original software available. Most professional tax programs will also allow you to download "replacement" software, even for prior years, if an accident occurs.

Another issue to consider is what might happen if some seldom-used portion of your operating software gets corrupted, and you have been copying on a regular basis the corrupted software to the external drive. Stranger things have happened!

FE

[mwarney]

Windows 2000 WAS a great OS but it really is obsolete. As an IT manager for 10 years, I've worked with both and XP is much more intuitive and forgiving. Vista was a folly but Windows 7 seems to be a winner.

I agree with FEDUKE, it is a waste of time and resources to back up your entire hard drive. You should back up your data and configuration files only. You are probably backing up 1 gig of important files and 79 gig of garbage.

[Bees Knees]

As an IT manager for 10 years, I've worked with both and XP is much more intuitive and forgiving.

I missed the deadline to upgrade my VISTA to Windows 7 for free. Would you recommend everyone to upgrade to Windows 7, or will VISTA continue to be supported by Microsoft for years?

The reason I ask is because my VISTA seems to be working just fine, and I hate to have to go through the hassle of changing my OS if it is not necessary.

[mwarney]

I missed the deadline to upgrade my VISTA to Windows 7 for free. Would you recommend everyone to upgrade to Windows 7, or will VISTA continue to be supported by Microsoft for years?

The reason I ask is because my VISTA seems to be working just fine, and I hate to have to go through the hassle of changing my OS if it is not necessary.

There are a number of aspects to “support.” When a new OS is released, major updates (i.e. service packs) to its predecessor product are usually terminated fairly quickly. I would expect that Microsoft will discontinue the release of new service packs sometime this year. Beyond that, they will typically continue with main stream support (security updates, hot fixes, paid support, etc) for several more years (usually longer for business versions than for “home” versions).

Right now, it looks like the main stream support will continue until at least 2011. After that, you can still get paid support for a number of years, as well as on line knowledge bases etc. Microsoft has a fairly lengthy and defined support lifecycle policy for all of its products which you can find here. http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

If your current OS is serving you well, there is no urgent reason to upgrade immediately. However, I would put it into your business plan for an “off season” project in the next couple of years. As a side note, MS has done a pretty good job of making the upgrade painless. I installed over XP (you can’t upgrade directly from XP to Windows 7) and was surprised at how easy it was.

[Gretel]

I agree with FEDUKE, it is a waste of time and resources to back up your entire hard drive. You should back up your data and configuration files only. You are probably backing up 1 gig of important files and 79 gig of garbage.

I have a different experience. Besides backing up my files I also use Acronis to back up my C drive. This has saved me once from having to re-install my operating system. It took about an hour. Anyone who ever had to do this knows how much time this saved.

It also will make a transfer to another hard drive easy as long as it is not on a new computer.

[mwarney]

I have a different experience. Besides backing up my files I also use Acronis to back up my C drive. This has saved me once from having to re-install my operating system. It took about an hour. Anyone who ever had to do this knows how much time this saved.

It also will make a transfer to another hard drive easy as long as it is not on a new computer.

If I'm not mistaken, Acronis uses imaging technology to create a snapshot of your hard drive which can later be used to restore your system from a failure. Imaging is an excellent way to safeguard your system, but it is not the same as a traditional backup and restore. With a traditional backup routine, It is pointless to backup your entire hard drive.

[Gretel]

If I'm not mistaken, Acronis uses imaging technology to create a snapshot of your hard drive which can later be used to restore your system from a failure. Imaging is an excellent way to safeguard your system, but it is not the same as a traditional backup and restore. With a traditional backup routine, It is pointless to backup your entire hard drive.

OK, thanks for the clarification. I am convinced. Since you obviously know what you are talking about, what is the easiest and safest way to transfer "all harddrive info" from one computer to a new computer, avoiding re-installing of software as much as possible?

[mwarney]

OK, thanks for the clarification. I am convinced. Since you obviously know what you are talking about, what is the easiest and safest way to transfer "all harddrive info" from one computer to a new computer, avoiding re-installing of software as much as possible?

I hate to say it but there really isn't a good way to transfer to a new computer without re-installing your applications. You can use the Microsoft "files and settings" wizard which supposedly will transfer all of your unique settings and data to a new machine, but this still requires re-installing your applications. There are lots of third party programs that claim to do the same thing but I've never used any of them. My own opinion is that this is far to personal to leave it up to some "off the shelf" program that claims to automate the process.

I have done this enough times that I can come up with a general procedure and check list to follow. I will put something together in the next few days. In the meantime, if you (or anyone else) needs specific guidance, I would be glad to help.

[Gretel]

Thank you so much. That sounds wonderful. Right now I am in good shape but sure welcome to have a manual ready in my drawer. If you like to email to me: taxes@taxesnthings.com.