advice needed which external hard drive

[Bub-les]

I'm looking to get an external hard drive for use as a back-up and extra storage for my computer. I am like the proverbial monkey and typewriter in that I understand little but use things. My computer is rapidly filling and I realise that I need to back-up important items especially my photos. I have tried looking and I find that there's loads of them!
I think I want a 500gb external drive that's reliable and will work with a PC running media centre XP
Any suggestions will be gratefully received
Barbara

[DavyG]

I bought one of these around 3 weeks ago to act as backup storage for my photographs:

Western Digital Elements 500GB USB2.0 External Hard Drive

It's small and does the job.

I've used WD internal hard drives in the last few pc's I've built and never had a problem.

I hope this helps.

Dave

[pressld2]

Mine's a Western Digital 500Gb too. I've only had it around six months but it's performed perfectly in that time. I only tend to switch it on when I want to copy stuff to or from it. You probably already know this but make sure you always stop the device properly before disconnecting or powering off otherwise you run the risk of data corruption.

Dave P.

[Bub-les]

I really know nothing about them so any advice is useful.
All I've done so far is look at a few reviews on Amazon to try and get some idea of what to go for. In this area I KNOW NOTHING!
Barbara

[DavyG]

I've pm'd you some details Barbara.

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to help.

Dave

[RichBrew]

Barbara,

External hard drives are a convenient way of creating extra storage space on your system, but be aware that these drives can, and do, fail. Although I'm not trying to use scare tactics here, it is a grim fact, so it is also a good idea to burn CD/DVD back-ups of your images as extra insurance. If the images mean a lot to you, then consider burning duplicates of the discs and store them off-site, in case something should happen to the originals.

Digital imaging has many advantages, and it is cheap and simple to back up all your work should disaster strike.

RichBrew

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by RichBrew

it is also a good idea to burn CD/DVD back-ups of your images as extra insurance.

Seconded! I do that and, recalling previous threads, a lot of other WAB members do too. What I don't do and really must is Richard's second point about taking them off site. My PC, external drive and DVD backups are all in the same room so even a small fire () and I've lost the lot!

Dave P.

[Bub-les]

Thanks guys for the help
Another problem is a decided lack of time to carry out all your suggestions.
Still one step at a time and a back-up hard drive is the first step. Done it ordered one!
So thanks once again.
Barbara

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by RichBrew

External hard drives are a convenient way of creating extra storage space on your system, but be aware that these drives can, and do, fail.

Very true. Although not totally failed, I partitioned my WD500Gb external, 400Gb is for photo backup and the other 65Gb was supposed to be for an image of my system drive. However, something (don't ask me what) has gone wrong with the smaller partition and it thinks its 1.4Tb !!! I've tried everything to recover this partition and get it back to normal to no avail.

[DavyG]

Originally Posted by Bub-les

Thanks guys for the help
Another problem is a decided lack of time to carry out all your suggestions.
Still one step at a time and a back-up hard drive is the first step. Done it ordered one!
So thanks once again.
Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Did you receive your new hard drive?

If so, how are you getting on with it?

Dave