This morning I purchased a Seagate Free Agent GOFLEX Ultra-Portable Drive from cosco for $49.95 which has a 320 GB capicity which is about the same as my internal computer hard drive. It was almost impossible to get it out of the package. Then it would not register. I purchased another such drive recently which cost $79.95 but was not compatible with Windows 7 and kept stopping so I returned it and got my money back. This unit says on the front that it is compatable with Windows 7. It was easy to set up but the only instructions are displayed on the computer screen. It backs up while running in the background but appears to be slow.It took 12 hours to back up my entire C:drive. So far, I like it.
-
-
Selective backups instead
I've never quite understood the logic for routinely backing up the entire hard drive.Originally posted by dyne View Post
Data files, of course!! (But you can routinely/quickly do that with a zip drive from Staples.)
Everything else can be regenerated from the installation disks and/or the "restore" function.
And, if your original hard drive has a "problem" (unseen virus/corrupted files not frequently used/etc) then by backing up everything you are also backing up those same problems. Some of the "backed up" software could be a mistake to continue to use instead of the original system software and products you purchased along the way.
Today's hard drives contain unbelievable amounts of data, so it does not surprise me in the least that a "full" backup took a significant amount of time.
FE -
ALL of my other back ups are of only certain directories and files.
This Seagate Free Agent GoFlex drive started up automatically backing up the
entire C: drive. I plan to use this Seagate drive to back up only selected directories
and files when I figure out how to do so. This Seagage drive was frustrating in several
respects:
1. It was extremely difficult to get the drive out of the enclosure in which it came. A pain!
2. It was difficult to register the drive with Seagate.
3. There was NO written instructions with the Drive.
4. I cannot yet figure out how to back up only one selected directory and files such as: Drake2009.
However if I ask it to again back up the entire C:drive, it does so quickly, so I can
use this as it apparently makes an incremental back up.
5. Registering for the Seagate Forum was a PAIN!
I was tempted to return the drive and get my money back but I will keep it as it seems
to work reasonably well.Comment
-
Back Up
That is what has always been confusing to me! Back up the entire Hard Drive or only Data Files.
My "computer guru" says only data files, if you restore a backup of the entire drive, it could contain "virus" "bugs" etc. and you don't want to migrate those.
Hopefully no "virus" no "bugs" in the data files. Seemed to work okay for me restoring backup data files, when my computer decided to "crash" in August 2010.
SandyComment
-
It always depends on what exactly is causing the problem. If a harddrive dies and you purchase the exact same harddrive it takes about 2 hours to have the new harddrive up in running again the same as the dead one, whereas it takes days to install all programs and update them. Also, once, it saved me a re-installation of my operating system with the same effect as above. I was amazed how slick this worked, having been through operating system re-installations not only once.
It's also true that the only tragic thing is to loose data, everything else can be re-installed and if a computer is infected beyond repair there is not much choice.Comment
Comment