Questions about external hard drive

[Fireball]

I just bought a portable external hard drive and backed everything up on my computer, but my question is do I need to leave it always plugged in to one of my USB ports? Will everything back up automatically then or do I still need to do it manually? Or do you just plug it in once a week for backup?

[dmcantrell]

It may depend on the backup software that you are using with the hard drive. Check the users guide for the backup software, it should give some direction about whether or not to leave it turned on or not.

For example, I use Norton Ghost and it will run a backup every few days in the middle of the night. I leave my external hard drive plugged into a USB port permanently.

[Fireball]

Thanks David. I'll check that out.

[Stricks]

Hey Charrie...like David said, it all depends on your backup software. Most let you either automatically or manually backup. And if you choose to auto-backup, some will even wait to backup until you have the drive connected.

I have a laptop, and I can't keep a drive connected all of the time. So I usually manually backup, but would have no problem doing the auto-backup whenever I reconnect the drive.

[dryicerx]

Like everyone said, you might need to keep it plugged in all the time for the automatic weekly/daily backup to work depending on how you configure it.

BUT if the data is of very high value to you... do manual backups every week and only plug in the drive when you are doing the backup. After backed up, keep the drive in a different part of the house (or if possible, take it to different location home/work).

Why? I've seen power surges in two cases that fried external drives (and internal). And the other is safety against a fire (keep everything in one place). Of course, both are super rare, but possible.

[andyz]

Additionally, I'd keep it disconnected in the event you got a virus or something. If it isn't connected, it can't get infected.

[Fireball]

Oh, makes sense about the virus thing and also being fried. Our house was struck by lightning back in May and the only thing it fried? My desktop, of course!

And even though a fire is rare, we almost lost our house in a grass fire four years ago so from then on I've stored my burned CDs at my husband's office in town. You just never know!

[Fireball]

Okay, topic revisited again.

I bought the 500GB Seagate external portable HD but can't for the life of me figure out how to back up my photos on it. When I plug it in it acts like it's an importer for photos (like my card reader). Any help would be appreciated!

[DSL_PWR]

Did you install the software that came with the hard drive? When you plug it in you should get a pop up menu asking you if you want to view the drive, save items, etc. Are you getting this when you plug in the drive? Also what operating system are you using?

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by Fireball

Okay, topic revisited again.

I bought the 500GB Seagate external portable HD but can't for the life of me figure out how to back up my photos on it. When I plug it in it acts like it's an importer for photos (like my card reader). Any help would be appreciated!

It sounds like this is a windows system, and it sounds like you've plugged it into the USB port and Windows popped up the standard "I've found a new storage device" window.

Just close that window, and look in your "My Computer" and you should see the new drive. At that pint, you can drag-and-drop whatever you want into it -- it's just like another C: drive (sort of).

[ldelacruz]

Like Andy said don't leave it connected because of viruses!

[revjvegas]

There's one other reason to not leave the drive plugged in and powered up when not in use.

Lifespan.

Just like anything else, if it has moving parts it will wear out and it will fail one day.

[Fireball]

I don't leave it plugged in all the time. It would be a pain having that thing connected to my laptop everywhere I went; plus, I want to be able to choose when I back up photos. After plugging it in again I found that I had not installed the software so maybe everything will go smoothly now. Thanks everyone!

[thehatguy]

Originally Posted by Fireball

Oh, makes sense about the virus thing and also being fried. Our house was struck by lightning back in May and the only thing it fried? My desktop, of course!

All my PC's have a battery backup UPS surge protector attached to them. The best $59.00 you can spend.

HP® Official Store — Buy the HP 400VA UPS and Surge Protection direct from HP

John