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[Mr.OmegaMan]

To backup all the pictures / videos / files etc... From the laptop before doing a factory restore due to it running dreadfully slow.

Was thinking of getting one of these (link below), Any options on which to go for I don't really need one bigger than 1TB the laptop is only a 650GB with around 12GB free space left.

Samsung M3 1TB USB 3.0 Slimline Portable Hard Drive - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008PABFX8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_twcVub0869Y5S

[The Sheriff]

Surely they are all much of a muchness. It's only a disk in a box.

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Surely they are all much of a muchness. It's only a disk in a box.

That's what I thought but reading the reviews put me off just jumping straight in 

[Andy B]

I bought one of them for my daughter at Christmas ...... she choose - I bought it 


though I upgraded it to the 2Tb version for her. 

[Mr.OmegaMan]

I bought one of them for my daughter at Christmas ...... she choose - I bought it 


though I upgraded it to the 2Tb version for her. 

Good to know Andy   

Does seem to be the best one out of them all

Never bought one of these before but needs must.

[Andy B]

....
Never bought one of these before but needs must.

It'd probably be a good idea for me to get one too .......... I lost loads of photos a few years back cos none of them were backed up 

[Mr.OmegaMan]

....
Never bought one of these before but needs must.

It'd probably be a good idea for me to get one too .......... I lost loads of photos a few years back cos none of them were backed up 

Now that they've become more affordable its worth the peace of mind, Presuming that the backup does't fail like some reviews suggest 

[Andy B]

...... Presuming that the backup does't fail like some reviews suggest 

maybe I need to buy a back up for the back up ..... 

[Entwood]

Bit "belt & braces" .. but I not only back up all data .. including photos .. to an external drive, I have burned all photos to DVDs which sit there in their boxes unused .. but if the disk AND the backup ever failed I have not lost those precious memories.  Printed/developed film did, at least, have the advantage of a reasonably "permanent" media ....

I know DVD's theoretically don't last forever, but if kept away from light and looked after they seem to be pretty good... and discs are very cheap now ...

[TheBoy]

Those portable drives aren't ideal for long term backup.

That aside, anything usb2 or higher. usb3 probably not worth a premium due not naturally slow xfer rate of disk itself.

Remember, it has to be reformatter to ntfs if any file is bigger than 4Gb.

[aaronjb]

USB3 vs USB2 is night and day if you're transferring bulk data (though if it's lots of small files, what TB says applies), assuming it's not the cheapest nastiest drive on the market, of course.

[TheBoy]

USB3 vs USB2 is night and day if you're transferring bulk data (though if it's lots of small files, what TB says applies), assuming it's not the cheapest nastiest drive on the market, of course.

I actually didn't look at the link, assumed it was a 2.5" sata on one of those ultra nasty usb to sata interfaces.

USB's 40MB/sec (480Mb/s) capability is more than good enough for those setups, as the drive will likely be less than 400Mb read, and half that for write.

[zirk]

What about the newer Hybrid 2.5 Hard Drives with the Solid State read write buffers, anyone using them?

example - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pc+world+2.5+hard+drives&oq=pc+world+2.5+hard+drives&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.13064j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#tbm=shop&q=pc+world+2.5+hard+drive+solid+state&spd=4248358480598505377

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Those portable drives aren't ideal for long term backup.

That aside, anything usb2 or higher. usb3 probably not worth a premium due not naturally slow xfer rate of disk itself.

Remember, it has to be reformatter to ntfs if any file is bigger than 4Gb.

What would you recommend for long term backup ?

I have around 650GB of data.

USB3 vs USB2 is night and day if you're transferring bulk data (though if it's lots of small files, what TB says applies), assuming it's not the cheapest nastiest drive on the market, of course.

I actually didn't look at the link, assumed it was a 2.5" sata on one of those ultra nasty usb to sata interfaces.

USB's 40MB/sec (480Mb/s) capability is more than good enough for those setups, as the drive will likely be less than 400Mb read, and half that for write.

Tut tut 

Just for you TB



I don't know much about hard drives but don't think this one I have in mind is a sata whatever that means

[DrAndyB]

I know DVD's theoretically don't last forever, but if kept away from light and looked after they seem to be pretty good... and discs are very cheap now ...

I had some DVD's fail spectacularly a few years ago .  Trying to recover some pictures from DVD (entire 4.7GB worth) and DVD got so hot reading the files it melted both the DVD disc and burnt the DVD Drive out !!! 

At least you have other backups so 

I have just got a WD My Cloud Mirror 4TB NAS Raid unit and its a great bit of kit.  I would certainly recommend one.

If in doubt, back it up