External Hard Drive

monstereyebrows

I need to back up data therefore if I purchase an external hard drive can it be used straight away or do I have to install windows on it.

Thanks

Peter

albertross_2

just plug it into usb port. DVD's are safer if you don't have too much data

BritBrat

You may have to format it first but that is about it.

Plug it in format it and save data.

No need to install anything on it, unless you want to encrypt it.

As albertross said any very important data that you would not want to lose back up to DVD as well.

I have a folder on one of my drives where I throw anything that I may want to save, then when it is a DVD size I burn the whole lot to disk. Then I start all over again, you just need to get a sytem that works for you. I even have a "send to" set up that sends it to the folder to make it nice and easy.

ormus

simple answer is no. only your main hdd (C) needs the OS. all other storage devices hold just the data, any data.
if your main hdd fails then you will need another hdd with an OS on it to access your data on the storage device.
thats why its sensible to partition the new hdd into say 3 parts. the new hdd becomes 3 drives. then u can always install an OS at a later date if required, on the first partition.

[Deleted User]

Just a note.. if you plug your external HD into your PC before it boots up - it may occasionally try to boot from this Hard disk. Try to plug the USB in only once windows has started if this happens

bainy

The majority of external drives already come pre-formatted with the FAT32 File system and are ready to accept data. Some others come already pre-formatted with the NTFS File system which are also ready to accept data. My advice would be should you purchase an external drive with a FAT32 file system, then I'd format it to the NTFS File system as it affords a greater level of security and reliability. Very simple procedure.

Also I'd recommend using either Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image Home software for creating your backups etc. I prefer Acronis and use it every week for incremental backups and every month for a full backup of my whole system.