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Unless it is cost prohibitive, I would go for the larger one. You will want to keep the last two full backups "just in case". Once you start using one, you will find a lot of other things you want to keep on the backup drive, too, that you don't need on your daily use computer - documents, closed files, etc. - contracts, flyers and pictures start to take up a lot of space. Then you will have a friend or two without a clue and you will at some point back up their laptop for them. The backup drive I use does not draw power via USB, it has its own power and cooling fan. I've had it for about two years, seems like it was approximately $120 for 200 GB which was enormous at the time~ I had used drives without the power source which were very slow - this one will back up my PC (+/- 15 GB data) in an hour and my laptop (more data but faster processor) in thirty minutes.

Tammy

Tamara L. Emam, Realtor®

Prudential Georgia Realty

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The external drives come in desktop models and portables. The desktop models require a power source and have their own power cable to plug into your surge suppressor. The portables generally connect to your computer via USB and draw their power from that. And the portable models are smaller/lighter some just slightly larger than a Blackberry.

I have several and my favorites are Western Digital although I do have a few Seagates. Also check the warranty. Some models come with 3 or 5 year warranties while some only come with 1 year warranty. Warranty won't help with your data if drive fails ;-( but at leat you'll get a replacement drive. ;-) (I've not had one fail YET.)

For critical data it's a good idea to have redundant back ups so I have two drives labeled odd and even and use the appropriate dirve for backup on odd or even calendar days. Drives are very inexpensive... a lot less expensive than trying to replace my data (and cost of stress, frustration, desire to kill something if data is lost ;-)

The old saying "you can never be too rich or too thin" translates to a general rule of computing: "you can never have too much processor speed, RAM or hard disk space." ;-) (You can add batttery-life to that, too!)

My $.02 worth.

I would go with a offline backup service. You will buy it, treat it like a new toy for awhile and then never do another backup. Or your do one and then wait a month. They sooner or later it will happen, a computer crash. Your most recent data is usually the most important and that’s what you will loose.

Get carbonite or another online back up service and never worry about your data. I think its $50.00 a year and you can usually find a discount coupon online

Jim Clauser
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Obviously opinions vary. I prefer the smaller, portable external hard drives, especially those that come loaded with BounceBack software. Its simple and easy to use and the drives come with both USB power and external power. Buy the largest storage volume that your budget allows. You may not need it now but you will in the future and you won't have to buy a new one when that happens. I have both Seagate and Western Digital and have not had one fail on me yet.

Best of luck,

Sam Martin

Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty

Sam@SamMartinRealtor.com

I'm a fan of redundant backups (more than one / alternating backup sets) and online backup is not a bad option for redundancy. But I'm not a fan of that in lieu of a good local backup via external media (now most convenient by USB or Firewire drive).

If/when a failure or data loss occurs, I like the fact that I have a copy in hand and can be up in minutes vs. the time it would take to restore from an online source (which of course requires an Internet connection). There are times when the Internet is not available or not as fast./reliable as a physical local copy.

True, the biggest problem with most backups is a faulty user (LOL) because we simply just didn't make a copy of our data. But I think that is a matter of proper (and simple) training and the appropriate level of pain. I've had many clients and students who've lost data because they didn't have a backup but surprisingly not that many repeat offenders... seems enough critical lost data was enough 'learning' for them to put simple backup on their priority list. (Teach your kids: "Comb your hair, brush your teeth, flush the toilet and back up your data." There are just some things that you need to put into your 'routine'.

There's a difference between ignorant and stupid. Not backing up data because you didn't that you should = ignorance (and is curable with simple training and discipline). Not backing up your data when you know you should or after having already lost data from a crash = stupid. (And I turn the whine filter on maximum. LOL). And yes, Stupid is dating Lazy here.

My $.02 worth. ;-)

BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER.

Have 2 back up drives and keep them in separate places.

don't trust the back-up software that comes with the hard drive. It is never that easy.

Do your own manual back up including:My Documents, Desk top. And, some programs ave files in their own hidden secret places. so you will need to find them too.

turn off all programs before backup. some programs prohibit other programs (like backups) from accessing their data while they are running.

I wish I had know these a few years ago - I would have saved myself 6 months of grief trying to retrieve files only to find out the backup simply didn't include them.

So I had a Maxtor, external drive that I paid an IT guy to set up for me. So I had a crash in December of 2008. The backup was worthless. I'm still putting all the little details back in place. I am doing it myself now as that is so costly in terms of time AND money that I will make sure it is done and done right.

By the time I reacreated all my email sigs, the settings, all the little programs that I can't live with out such as Anagrams (captures into outlook but I believe you can use some of the other adins' now such as Grab it that comes with linkedIn, etc., Snagit, setttings, roboforms, and on and on...I really would like to set up an entire image that saves software and all my settings. Somethign that literally makes an exact copy of what I've got going on the computer.

Has anybody done this succesfully? And if so what do you use and how do you have it set up?

I am backing up just my docs manually until I make my decision. I have investigated Acronis software (recommended by Best Buy) that does an incremental backup and operates in the background all the time. Has anyone had any experiece with this software or that style of back up? I believe it does create a series of back up generations.

It took me so long to install all the software and such that I really would like an exact image of the machine, but so far I have not found a solution. I do know one thing for certain. It is very expensive to put a computer with all it's data, software, and the like back together. So I do NOT want to skimp on this!