Back up devices: any tips?

jenniewb

I need to buy a back-up device.

Currently in the process of getting a new computer. I'll need to transfer my old data, I had assumed a USB stick or few would be enough but am now wondering if it's better to get a proper back-up device.

I have got now 10 days to get this and a budget of £60 in Amazon vouchers.

I could potentially add a little of my own cash towards it, but I don't really want to. I have no clear idea on what the difference is between brands, aside from the size or weight;for example why such a difference between something like a Seagate model and a MyBook device? Do they save better?? Is it better to pay more for a whole lot more space being that the new computer will have 1TB of space to fill and which brands or models are best to avoid?

Nilrem

For £60 you're pushing it a little depending on what you need to back up.

For things like music you've probably got a DVD writer in your machine, so use that to make a copy of your music (don't delete it off the hard drive though).
Pro's it's cheap (basically a few discs).
Cons: It's not ideal for large collections, or large amounts of data as you will need to break it down into chunks (you may also find that when you copy the stuff of the DVD the files need to be manually reset to read/write). It is also time consuming, and will need you to be there to swap discs over etc.
Make sure you click the box for "verify data" (or similar) so the drive will try reading the disk back, I've had problems with dying burners/bad discs where the disc has burned ok, but failed to be read back.

For your documents either a small external hard drive, or a USB stick.
Pros: Easy to do (you can drag the folders over to the drive/memory stick, and drag them off again). You can also set it to work and walk away.
Cons: Cost.

You could also go for the network option, connect the two machines up to a switch or your home router, turn on file sharing and share the folders you wish to copy over to the new machine (so things like "my documents").
Pros: Very cheap to do - if you've got Broadband at home you'll probably have a router, so just need to buy a network cable for the second machine. You can set it to start the transfer and walk away (just checking it from time to time)
Cons: If you've never setup networking before it can be a tad daunting, although Windows XP/Vista/7/8 have increasinly made it easier and easier to do. It also requires you to have both machines for the duration of the copying (not a problem usually, unless you're getting rid of the old machine before getting the new one).

Personally I tend to use a belt and braces approach to backing up.
I use an external drive (or two) and keep a copy of things like my emails, documents and music on the external drive.
I also use a USB stick for some things, and DVDR's every now and then to back up my music.

The main thing to remember though, is that you should always have backups of anything important (and renew/check them on a regular basis), not just when you're moving stuff to a new computer.
And also, don't delete the stuff off the old machine until you're sure everything is onto the new one! (I once made the mistake of using "cut" and move, rather than "copy" and move years ago, and was rather annoyed when I ended up having to hunt down a CDR backup of some files when there was a problem).

securityguy

"For £60 you're pushing it a little depending on what you need to back up."

Sixty quid is plenty. A Samsung 1TB USB 3.0 disk drive is 57 quid on Amazon right now. Portable, fast, modern: what's not to like? If you don't mind it being plugged into the mains and can find another tenner, Seagate 2TB drive. I'd have have thought that a 1TB backup device was sufficient for most people, though.

JethroUK

back up device?

DVD 10p from tesco

permanent, cheap, compatable with most computers, easy to archive - over 100 archives in same space as electronic device contain 1 archive - at a cost of £10 vs £50? for a device

I totally rely on backing up files as part of my job role and on day to day basis I back up / sync all my documents to the cloud (Google drive) which in turn syncs with my 3 PCs

then at least once a week I burn a DVD so I have whole history/archive in a box

System

JethroUK wrote: »

back up device?

DVD 10p from tesco

permanent, cheap, compatable with most computers, easy to archive - over 100 archives in same space as electronic device contain 1 archive - at a cost of £10 vs £50? for a device

I totally rely on backing up files as part of my job role and on day to day basis I back up / sync all my documents to the cloud (Google drive) which in turn syncs with my 3 PCs

then at least once a week I burn a DVD so I have whole history/archive in a box

DVDs are not permanent. For home burnt ones read errors start creeping in after about 2 years.

Google 'dvd degradation'

Stooby2

DVD's hold 4.7gb - I don't know what the OP has stored, but personally I'd need about 20 DVD's to back this PC with all the music and photos that are on here. So I use a NAS box and a USB 1tb drive. I use MS Synctoy to do the backups and it doesn't take half as long or have anything like the hassle of burning numerous DVD's.

jenniewb

I've got about 30GB to transfer...I'm not sure a DVD would cut it. I also don't have the ability to write DVDs or CDs on my current computer- sorry, I should have added that! I can play them fine but when it comes to saving, it doesn't work. Dell let me know this when I was just out of warrenty, telling me I'd need to pay for a new one. This is where Dell and I start to split paths... (follow on a few years of similar 'break down's of things that never worked right in the first place followed by stupid quotes and suggestions to buy more, the one time I took them up on that, it turned out they sold me something so ill equipt for what I needed it for, I feel embarrassed to say what it was, they did tell me it would solve my problems- it really didn't!)

Am looking at the back-up box type things, just to transfer data rather then to retain it and use it from the device. Are there any real differences between the brands?

Nilrem

If it's only about 30gb to backup, you could easily get a few 16gb/32gb memory sticks to do the job (Amazon show Sandisk and Duracell 32gb sticks for about £15 each), and once you've got the new machine up and running burn copies to DVD, whilst using the USB sticks for backing up important files that change on a regular basis (IE keep copies of your music on DVD, and rotate through the memory sticks for a weekly/monthly backup of emails etc).

Backup external HDD's are really pretty much of a muchness, I'd go for a 3.5" formfactor one though, as despite them needing an external power supply (included) and being less portable, you do tend to get a lot more storage for your money.
The thing to remember though is never rely on it to have your only copy of any data, any more than you would an internal hard drive as they are the same tech and can die just as easily.

securityguy wrote: »

"For £60 you're pushing it a little depending on what you need to back up."

Sixty quid is plenty. A Samsung 1TB USB 3.0 disk drive is 57 quid on Amazon right now. Portable, fast, modern: what's not to like? If you don't mind it being plugged into the mains and can find another tenner, Seagate 2TB drive. I'd have have thought that a 1TB backup device was sufficient for most people, though.

I must admit I'm used to thinking of backups as being in the 500-1tb region for a full backup - probably because my "documents" folder hasn't been pruned in 10 years, and I've got several thousand high definition scans of slides etc, in addition to my music and games (my steam folder is about 300gb and gets included in any full backup)

Sharon87

Western Digital seems to work for me

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elements-1TB-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005A97APO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360239092&sr=8-3

Or you could a bit more for the passport drive, which is a bit more rugged.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-1TB-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B007UOW818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360239144&sr=8-1

It also has USB 3 so if you get a new machine with USB 3 it transfers a lot faster. It's also compatible with USB 2 slots too.

Sharon87

Also I would suggest getting a Dropbox account where you can store 2.5GB free on a cloud. Which is perfect for documents you need backed up

Tiexen

Sharon87 wrote: »

Also I would suggest getting a Dropbox account where you can store 2.5GB free on a cloud. Which is perfect for documents you need backed up

2nd that - and its also good for syncing files between computers