best way to backup files

I would like to backup photos, videos from my camcorder, and files from my pc in case of a crash. I take a lot of videos and save to my pc. This is adding up, and I would like to be able to backup to CDs or DVDs but am really inexperienced in this area and am not sure if this is the best way to do this.

I'm thinking that being able to burn everything to a DVD or CD is cheaper, and I can make multiple copies in case one gets damaged.

We only have one income, and I need to go about this in the cheapest way in the long run. I'm not interested in subscribing to any website and storing my things at an offsite location. I'm really interested in CDs, DVDs, zip or buying an external hard drive.

I would really appreciate any suggestions on brands as well.

 

It's an interesting question because I don't find any media all that trustworthy. I write data DVDs all the time backing up various files and usually make sure to go through data verification during the write process. I find a year or so later that some of these DVDs aren't recognized by my DVD writer and are seen as blank. Usually after inserting, ejecting, inserting, ejecting etc. they are eventually seen as containing data. It would be much more disconcerting if they were irreplaceable memmories. I only have a few CDs of pictures that I make a fresh copy of every year or so(keeping the old copies) figuring at 25¢ per CD it couldn't hurt to have multiple copies burnt at different times.

At this point in time large HDs are getting cheap enough to compete with DVDs as a backup device. There are unfortuantely many threads here at MG where people are suddenly unable to get to the data on their external HDs because they are seen as blank by Windows for no apparent reason.

If I were going to make a backup of my files and I had a large amount 200GB+ I would consider buying an internal HD of between 500-1000gb. I would add it to my system as a slave then copy my files over to it. Remove it from my system and put it back in the anti-static bag, box it up and store it at room temperature in a closet. When I had another large amount of files to backup, I would re-add it to my system copy things over and pack it up in the box again. (I haven't actually used this method but have been thinking about it as my collection of DVDs has gotten out of hand. I probably have close to a TB of data DVDs laying around and 3/4 of it is probably duplicates or no longer of any value to me. My only concern would be that a HD that is stored and not used for a couple of years might freeze up. I think this could be remedied by simply connecting it to the PC at least twice a year.)

How much video are we talking about roughly? And how big are the largest files? A DVD holds about 4.3GB of data and costs about 25-50¢ a piece. (I often buy 50 ct. Sony or TDK for around $12.99 on sale at Staples or Office Depot or just over 25¢ each) So for ~$25.00-$30.00 I can backup about 400GB. Today's Office Depot ad had a 1TB external HD for $99. 1TB of DVDs would cost about $65-$75 on sale and take about 42 hours to burn without data verification and without coffee breaks. Backing up to the HD would not take anywhere near that much time and would be much easier to find files later on. But again this is just to give you rough price comparisons. I think I would go the internal HD route rather than external because the first thing one would do if the device stopped working would be to take it out of the enclosure and connect it internally to see if it was recognized. I guess it is a matter of convenience versus simplicity. I would think that using an external that you only hook up when you actively want to transfer data would be just as safe since most problems with externals arise from dropping or unplugging them when they are in use.

Let's see if anyone else has some ideas or can comment on which type of media they consider most reliable.

 

It depends on how much you value the data.

Personally if the data is really valuable I would buy 2 or 4 1TB drives, connect them up to the PC in a RAID1 or RAID5 array and run a full weekly backup until the drive is full, then overwrite the oldest backup. I would also burn to multiple DVDs at the same time.

If the data is less important, then buy a regular 1TB drive and hook it up internally and use it to keep 1 or 2 copies of the data on it. Please note the copies bit, the more places you have the data in, the safer it is.

 

Thanks for responding. I just got around to counting my photo and video data. Right now I have about 70gb of files, so I'm expecting I'll be collecting more and maybe deleting some. Most of the files are of my kids, so they are really important to me.

I've been out of work for over 10 years now, so I've lost touch with what's good and bad when it comes to technology. I didn't even know until your postings that there was a such thing as a TB. I know, that's bad.

So, I went to Walmart just to see what they had. They had one internal drive and many external ones. Then, I went to their online store. What brands would you suggest? I'm thinking that I want to start with 500gb and maybe buy another one by a different brand when I can afford it and duplicate what's on the first one.

I'm not sure what you mean by RAID1 and RAID5. So, I'll need to do some research on that.

I'm guessing by "slave", I can find that in the instructions when I buy a drive?

I'm no expert, but feel very comfortable as a DIY. I use to pull PCs apart at my former employer, but things have changed.

 

Could someone tell me why there is such a big difference in the price of these two? This is why I get confused about what to buy...

http://www.walmart.com/search/searc...0&ic=48_0&ref=+500844.501076&tab_value=28_All

 

Greetings, tegary...

On the surface, I can't readily see the reason for the big price difference in those drives, other than the HP being a dual-port: I'm sure that further research would turn up some different specs, but there's no way you should spend more than $100 for a 500gb drive, these days - Newegg lists the WD drive for $69.99...

As far as the 'slave', most drives have jumpers on the back for 'master/slave' configurations, and many retail boxed drives come with detailed instructions...

 

I agree with Caliban, I see no reason for the price difference. Under a $100 is correct for a 500gb drive. I would suggest either of the two big brands Western Digital or Seagate (merged with the former Maxtor). I prefer WD but only because I had a couple of Maxtors go bad on me (I'm sure others can say vice versa--both brands are fine). Newegg.com is a good place to get an idea of a good price. Most computer components are sold online now but HDs are still available at decent prices in some big box stores. BestBuy or Staples or OfficeDepot may have good sale prices if you want to pick up at a store. Not sure Walmart will have much to choose from in physical stores.

You need to know if your computer takes SATA or PATA(IDE) Hard Drive. If it is SATA (like the ones you were looking at on Walmart.com) you don't have to worry about jumpers. Otherwise setting a jumper is just a matter of putting a small plastic coated metal clip across two pins on the back of the drive according to the setup instruction sheet. Not difficult. http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/200504/hddinstall_jump.jpg

After rereading my first post I think the method I described would be a bit extreme for most purposes. I think just getting an internal HD and leaving it in the PC would be fine for you. HD are very reliable and usually last about 5 years. I still think an internal drive is more reliable than an external drive and recommend it just because it avoids the extra USB connection.

 

Thanks for all the good advice.

How do I determine if I have SATA or PATA? I looked in the Device Manager and dxdiag, but nothing listed there.

The internal hard drive at my local Walmart is Seagate SATA 500gb for $89. I believe the WD in the link I gave has dropped in price. I've never purchased from Newegg, but will look into that.

sach2... I agree about the internal. After reading your first post, I was reading where others have had the problems you described, so I'm gonna get the internal one for those reasons.

Does the small plastic clip for the jumper come with the hard drive when I buy it or do I need to buy that separate?

Thanks for all your help.

 

The drive will come with at least one jumper, which is usually all you'll need - you can always find a spare from another old hard or optical drive you might have laying around...

 

Please look in device manager and post the model of your hard drive. It should look something like WD800JD or H502IJ (Western Digital and Samsung respectively). If you post this then one of us can google it and find out the model specs.

To get this, go into device manager and expand the disk drives area, then read the model number from either the device manager entry, or the device's properties window.

If the drive is a PATA then it should come with the clip. If it doesn't then they are about $0.02 from any small computer store. If you have a local repair shop they may give you one for free.

 

It is surprisingly difficult to find a clear picture but here is one that shows the difference in size of the connectors http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4gpXHrXKkks/SlEBdHjWFnI/AAAAAAAAAGY/0LiM3ds3IRQ/s1600-h/SATA+and+PATA.png and one that shows the PATA/IDE cable http://www.flatheadenterprises.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/pata-cable-with-slave.gif.

I would recommend opening the case and taking a look to see which type of HD you have. Only because I went to add an internal to my father's old DELL and realized that they did not provide an extra bay to slip it into. I had never heard of such a thing--but apparently on some of their low end machines they wanted you to buy the extra bay separately.

 

Ok, here it is... WDC WD4000AAJS-00YFA0. Not sure it is it o's or zero's. They look like zeros.

It doesn't say what the brand is, but I'm thinking the WD is Western Digital.

I really appreciate all the help.