Backup solution

[rfglass]

Hey guys I am looking for a decent usb3 backup solution for the wife. was thinking about something like this
Canada Computers | Hard Drives | Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB 2.5" Ultra-portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive Black (WDBACY5000ABK-NESN)

she take alot of photos and wants something to back them up to from her laptop.If you have any other ideas or advice I would like to hear them.
Thanx

[frontier204]

Assuming Windows 7, any external hard drive + Windows files backup should work for what you need. IIRC Windows backup uses non-encrypted .ZIP files internally (at least Vista did) so even if you stop using Windows you can restore backups manually. I wouldn't use any external drive that claims to have its own backup software (actually I format any USB drive I get before using it) because you end up tied to whatever the software is.

OEM hard drive prices are still high so you're right in searching for "pre-packaged" external drives - before the supply shortage a separate enclosure + cheap hard drive would be the way to go, but now cheap hard drives are hard to find.

It's a little complex but I've been using Cobian Backup for file backup because again it doesn't tie you to using a proprietary backup format: Cobian Backup

[grinder]

This solution costs a bit more, but comes with it's own backup software.

My Book Essential

The WD Smartware refreshes it's backups when the computer is on idle (screen saver) so everything is current, almost in real-time.

[On2wheels]

I'm wondering about this myself, it's near the point I should be worried about my drive crashing and I lose alot of data. The link in the OP seems overpriced for what you get, how about this one?
Buy the Western Digital 1TB My Passport Black Hard Drive at TigerDirect.ca
how fast would a 7gb zip file transfer to/from this drive?
Any reason to stay away from these portable drives?
What's the difference in 2.5 vs 3.5" portable drives?

[grinder]

the 2.5's are usb powered which is nice

[Dzzope]

one uses a regular hdd you would possibly put in your pc the other uses a laptop hdd.

as grinder said the 2.5's are usb powered and much more portable where the larger ones are really just meant as external static storage.


The WD looks interesting with the automatic backing up while the computer is idle.. should mean that her stuff is safe but she should never notice it doing anything.