What can I use this for?

it'smeinit

Hi
I must start with I'm not the most technical minded person but.
I recently went to Pc World to get something to back up my two home computers. On asking the advice of the sales Assistant, I was recomended the western Digital ess 320.
A month on, went to back up and found that this unit isn't suppose to be used for backing up at all. It's only used for transfering data from one computer to another? £74.99 down the drain.
Am I understanding this right? does it have any other uses?
The guy told me you use it like a large memory stick......you just drag and drop your files. Which is blatently not the case..:mad:

[Deleted User]

What operating system are you on?

In XP:

Start > Accessories > System Tools > Backup

Follow the guide to backup what you want, call it something like "Computer1" let it do it, then take the drive to the other computer and do the same but call it "Computer2"

Unless you're having a specific problem, that should sort you out.

Here's a guide:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

exup

75 quid seems a bit high a price for what you describe as a crossover cable. which is all you really need to transfer from one PC to another - so i would have thought it would have some storage and transfer capability

Bateman_2

AFAIK, It's a passport drive, to be used like a large USB flash drive so you can have pictures, music, films etc on the go. Is it not just a 30GB laptop HDD in a fancy case?
You can use it like that. - If it were me, I'd buy some very good quality DVDs (So they last a long, long time and the data doesn't decay) to use as backups (2 discs per PC) and keep them somewhere safe. If your data is worth more than 75 quid to you, I think this would be the best plan.

Hope this helps.

it'smeinit

Thank you for your replies.
I guess backing up on to disk is now the best option. I just thought I could keep everyting in one place and keep it safe using this as a back. I woulden't use music or files on the go, so I guess a waste of money.

[Deleted User]

What exactly are you wanting to do?

Reggie_Rebel

That Western Digital drive will do exactly what you want. Just create two folders as anewhopesaid