External Hardrive?

A computer guy told me that my laptop computer 220gb hard drive was nearly maxed out and is causing slow computer operation and performance. He suggested I get a 1 or 2 TB 3.0 external hard drive and move all of my trail camera and other pictures (100+ GB) off to free up the computer hard drive.

Any suggestions for Ext HD brand, type, etc.? Good bad experiences?

Western Digital seems to be the most popular brand, BUT the ratings indicate some failure with lost files, poor customer service, etc..

Dave

They will all have failures...if it is just for backup and not going to be used all the time, I wouldn't worry about it. I would check tiger direct....should be able to get a 2tb for less than $50.

rjcruiser said:

They will all have failures...if it is just for backup and not going to be used all the time, I wouldn't worry about it. I would check tiger direct....should be able to get a 2tb for less than $50.

Click to expand...

I have 2 for backup. I guess I am paranoid.

An external drive can help with taking a load off a small internal drive. After you store your data files and delete them off the int dr, run defrag to get more speed out of your puter. Depending on the importance of your data, may want to burn it to a CD.

Brand is not as important as configuration. Prices have reached the point where replacement will trump any repairs. The idea of running two, for storage back up is cost effective.
But it only works if you manage the process.

We've been loading all of our trail cam pics to the cloud. We get unlimited photo storage with Amazon Prime. My father has my log in information and we can both load and view the pics whenever we want.

GA Carpkiller said:

We've been loading all of our trail cam pics to the cloud. We get unlimited photo storage with Amazon Prime. My father has my log in information and we can both load and view the pics whenever we want.

Click to expand...

"The Cloud" is just you renting space (or space offered) on an external drive. Great for mobility, but leaves you at the mercy of an external company. If they operate well, great. They get bought or go belly up, now you are at the mercy of whoever is next. Anything critical may best be protected by hardcopy or a CD.

I have had excellent luck with my Toshiba portable drives. 1TB for around $60.

Spend the extra bucks and go for an external solid state drive. You won't regret it.

A thought pic to consider:

elfiii's excellent suggestion, your device 6 ft of USB cable and an ext drive with all your data stored. A second ext drive with a copy of all your data. If you're really paranoid the spare or another kept in off site location. Secure when not connected. But completely portable to next house or a puter upgrade.

OR

A cloud service with all your data. Which is just a ext dr you don't own or control but is accessed via the internet. As long as the company is still running or honors their commitment you should be ok. Up gradable from a new house or puter. However it's online 24/7 and only as secure as their connection and security software. Ok as long as all you're storing is trail cam pics.

Cloud - free for now, but subject to marketing and changes to terms and conditions.

Physical ext drv - 50-100$ one time expenditure.

You know your level of trust and tolerance for various forms of risk.

On the external cloud solution... Ask your cable / internet provider about cloud storage. It's likely included with your service, a lot of people don't realize that, or it's an extra $5 a month prorated thru the provider. Cheaper than if you purchased it from the company. All ISPs that I know offer online backup.

You won't have to worry about it being a reputable company, they only do business with providers that are solid. Also, there are agreements in place that say they have to preserve data in the event of the company going out of business.

I would personally go with an external drive. Like elf ii said, a solid state drive is the way to go if you want to retrieve the data quick. It will be a few extra dollars though.

Life in IT with the cloud.

Got the latest version of Windows XP? Lotus Notes? DOS 5.0? A DEC PDP11 to run it on?

Depends on your tolerance and time frame.