Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Bryan Young on February 18, 2013, 07:24:46 pm

Title: Computer back-ups.
Post by: Bryan Young on February 18, 2013, 07:24:46 pm
In general I put all the stuff I wish to keep on CDs/DVDs. But I was convinced by “one who knows” that a “stand-alone” back-up drive would do everything I need.
Oh, yeah?
So off I toddled to PC World to check all this out.
I run Windows XP (Home) with USB 2 connections. Having explained this to a guy in a purple shirt, I was told that this gizmo (Western Digital) was, in reality USB 2 compliant and could be run on XP. Forked over my £50 and went proudly on my way.
Next? Zilch. A little blue light flashed at me but there’s no way one can “drag and drop” when there’s nothing to drop to.
Back to PC World. No problem. Changed it for a Seagate unit that actually says on the box that it’s both XP and USB 2 compatible.
Is it hell. Little yellow thingy comes up saying New Hardware found….with the rider that my computers USB 2 ports are incompatible with the USB 3 plug on the new drive. Great.
Went on to Google and checked this out. Looks like “hundreds” of people have had/are having the same problem.
And I had such high hopes.
But one entry really struck home. I honestly expected these units to be simply a “back-up” system leaving the originals still available on the computer. Not so. Not in the case of the Seagate at least. To retrieve the “stuff” that unit has taken one has to sign up to the Seagate “Retrieval Programme”.
I’m going to get my money back and continue putting all my “keepable” stuff on CDs.I’m so disappointed. BY.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: Colin Bishop on February 18, 2013, 07:36:19 pm
You seem to have been unlucky Bryan.
 
I have several 'backup' disks. I never use any of the built in software. I just copy all the files I want to back up directly to the external disks. No problems so far.
 
Colin
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: pettyofficernick on February 18, 2013, 07:55:39 pm
PC World is about the worst place to buy anything to do with computers. I used to work for a small computer shop, we had at least 5 people a week in to have brand new equipment  repaired, because PC World had said that either there was nothing wrong with it, or stated a 4 week lead time for repairs. This included such problems as incorrectly installed operating systems, un mountable drives, and non functioning upgrades such as sound and graphics cards. As for your backup problem, you can buy a hard drive caddy and a hard drive and put them together yourself, it is practically fool proof.
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/251158897976?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320GB-SATA-3-5-SATA-DESKTOP-INTERNAL-HARD-DISK-DRIVE-3-5-INCH-COMPUTER-PC-DRIVE-/181058009328?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item2a27e5f8f0

These 2 examples are on ebay, but there are many more available, little high st computer shops will have similar products, or visit your local computer fair. assembly couldn't be simpler as the photos show. The first one shows the unit assembles (minus the case) the second one shows the hdd separated from the endplate, they literally just plug together. Mine cost me about 35 quid for the lot. Just plug it in to your computer and it will show up in 'my computer', right click on it, select 'quick format' once done, drag and drop to your hearts content. Hope my ramblings are of some help.
Nick
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: NFMike on February 18, 2013, 08:29:01 pm
I use Write Once DVD for backup, kept in a firesafe when not being used. The advantage of WO over RW or a hard disc being that you can't accidentally delete your backup.

I used to backup weekly but the last year or so I've been using a 'cloud' sync/backup service which operates all the time, rather than when I put the disc in. So now I do a DVD backup just once a month or so ... I'm not daft enough to trust the web service totally  %)
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: TheLongBuild on February 18, 2013, 08:32:31 pm
Strange , I thought Usb 1,2,3 are all backwords compatable ?
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: grendel on February 18, 2013, 09:14:44 pm
I use an internal 2Tb sata hard drive and a 1Tb external hard drive, I use a bit of free software called toucan to back up entire sets of folders from one drive to another ( once set up it just copies new files from one folder to the other), I only back up photos to 3 locations, laptop and both hard drives, other documents just get backed up to one hard drive. the other option is something like a 16 Gb usb stick.
the easy way is just using copy and paste, but I use toucan as I now have over 100,000 photos. my 2Tb internal drive is in an old desktop pc (it actually has 4 internal and 2 external hard drives, a second desktop has 1 internal and 3 more external hard drives as I run an extensive home network, I can even run any of my machines while sat at any other of my machines just because I can and I'm lazy.
Grendel
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: grendel on February 18, 2013, 09:20:29 pm
be careful if you keep adding files to a cd - there can come a point where the cd becomes unusable - basically each time you burn files it creates a new index file in the index section of the cd, if this becomes full and cant finish writing the index you cant see the files (my dad did this with a cd, and you can recover the files using software called isobuster, that reads the actual files rather than the index.
Grendel
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: Bob K on February 18, 2013, 09:31:04 pm
It never ceases to amaze me that Microsoft still don't have any backup utility software!
I have Nortons 360 which does an excellent job of backing up automatically in background onto a 60Gb USB drive.
 
Every so often I do a manual backup onto CD's.  That way I have a rapid restore for the bulk of long term file storage, plus I can recover more recent ones from Nortons.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: RMH on February 18, 2013, 10:15:35 pm
Raid 1 mirror in my PC, external hdd for manual backup of everything, Flickr account for backing up photo's and dropbox and usb stick for other important stuff. There are so many inexpensive way's of backing up data these day's it amazes me how many pc users don't even try to back up data. CD/DVD back up's will degrade over time so I don't even bother with them now. As an IT engineer it always amuses me how many users say"but you can get my data back off my failed hdd, right?  %%
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: Peter Fitness on February 18, 2013, 10:17:38 pm
That's strange, Bryan. I have 4 WD external hard drives and they all run on our 3 computers, including an old ex-government PC running Windows XP. Our 2 laptops also have no problems with the drives, one laptop runs Windows 7 and the other Widows 8. I was given one of the HDDs for Christmas, it is a WD 1 Terrabyte USB3 unit powered through the USB cable, and all computers read it perfectly. I sometimes get a message to the effect that it would run quicker on a USB 3 port, other than that it's fine.


Peter.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: TheLongBuild on February 18, 2013, 10:29:50 pm
AS above USB 1-3 will (should) read what ever, Looks more like to me that your Pc just needs to be told that the disk is there, I had that problem when configuring my 1TB drive on my PC.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: dpbarry on February 18, 2013, 10:31:15 pm
Hi folks.. I currently work as an IT technician in a school and have been at this game for 25 years. In all that time, I've used all sorts of backup devices and to be honest, there is no one system that fits all.


It depends on what you are backing up. I have a bag with umpteen flash drives, hard drives in caddies, and 5 hard drives with approx 5 Terabyte of space. I now have a google drive account with a 5 Gbyte limit and a Microsoft live account which is 25Gbyte.


Everything is a trade off. You may backup to a backup drive, but have you ever test if the backed up files work if you restored them? What happens if the backup drive fails.


What i do is group thing into critical, not so critical and could live without. All critical stuff goes to the google drive and microsoft live accounts and backed up to school network ;-) The failsafes set up in terms of hardware failures etc is to have critical files in 2 or more locations.  Not so critical stuff goes on keypens and backup drives but these are not without problems. I've had the same issues with usb 1, 2 & 3 drives going faulty. Not sure why but critical files are in several locations just to be sure.


I can't give a definitive answer because there isn't one unless you wish to spend big money. Even then you can't guarantee that your backups are safe, secure and most of all, working.


To Grendel. Please tell me you have the 100,000 photos backed up to another location and are not just relying on this one HD!! They do go faulty. Been there, got the teeshirt?!!


Declan
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: TheLongBuild on February 18, 2013, 11:01:18 pm
Saw these this the other day.
Also I thought that Microsoft did have a backup facility but is an additional add on ?.
 
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: JayDee on February 18, 2013, 11:39:11 pm
I have one just like that, use it all the time, dead easy to do !!.
John
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: Spook on February 19, 2013, 01:22:27 am
I use a Western Digital My Passport external disk drive. It cost me about £70 and can hold 465Gb of data. (500Gb listed)


It looks as if the price has come down a bit since I bought mine - Here's a link to Misco:


http://www.misco.co.uk/Search/Keyword/wd+my+passport?Sort=PriceAsc&affiliate=5580&gclid=CI-j2ICawbUCFUnMtAodU2AAUw



It comes with its own software and security and is configurable for libraries/files or file types. Very simple to use and restore is a doddle.


I run a number of websites, which I amend on a weekly basis, and use this little gem. Quick backup, then I take it offsite (put it in my locker in work). Job done.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: tigertiger on February 19, 2013, 02:15:39 am
I have bought 2 portable hardrives in recent years. Filled 500gb with music. Bought a new 1TB this week.


Both came with the computer backup routine software installed. The newer one offereing to put it to a cloud in addition.
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: derekwarner on February 19, 2013, 05:17:53 am
Bryan......Windows XP does have it's own a back up facility .....http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820)
Just about every software package these days has an associated back up facility  O0  the NERO burning suite being one, however like Bob K ...I use the standalone Norton 360 backup software facility for my 2TB desktop C drive
Just set & forget...I hibernate my PC & monitor [set at 5 minutes] but never turn the PC off
So simple to perform a weekly backup to my 2TB external hard drive....the only thing I must remember each Saturday evening   <*< is to turn the external drive on............... :embarrassed: Derek
 
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: grendel on February 19, 2013, 08:20:44 am
Currently my photos are on 3 hard drives on 3 machines, plus on my laptop I just keep 1 years worth of photos - so recent photos end up on 4 hard drives. added to that I store an image of all the computer main hard drives for restoration purposes on one of my large backup drives, using these I can restore any of the computers just by burning the image back to a new hard drive.
Grendel
Title: Re: Computer back-ups.
Post by: malcolmfrary on February 19, 2013, 06:26:12 pm
All of the USB gear I have, including hard drives, has been backward compatible with earlier versions.  They have frequently whimpered that they could perform better in a later version USB port, but have performed none the less.
My system backups are taken care of by easeus when I remember, file folders are copied to a back up drive initially, but I subsequently use the MS synctoy* to synchronize across the drives on my home network, and between the various PCs and their external drives.  Usually a good idea to not fiddle with files on more than one machine between syncs - the last one wins.
* http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=15155
Usually when a USB device is plugged in to a PC that doesn't "know" it, it takes a few seconds to realize that it has a new friend, then maybe a few minutes to admit to loading driver software.  I have always put the offer of supplier on=line facilities as being just something to keep the suppliers bosses son who is a would be programmer quiet, and ignored it.