Hard drive Backup

JussiJussi UP of MI
edited March 2007 in Hardware
I am running a 4 year old Presario 2100US. Starting to get concerned about losing everything with a hard drive failure. One option I am considering is the purchase of a new faster, larger hard drive and then cloning my existing HD to that and then replacing the existing with the new. The old existing would then be a backup which could be reinstalled if necessary.
The other option would be puchase of an external HD and use of that for backup.
Does anybody have any thoughts or experience on this scenario? Which of the 2 options make more sense from a practical standpoint? To me, option 1 seems to be the preferable. I have no qualms about changing out a HD.

I had considered the purchase of a new laptop but with all of the negative comments and incompatibilitys with Vista. I will make due with what I have until Vista gets it's act together. It is unfortunate that PC buyers are not offered the option of what operating system they wish to use on a new PC.

:confused:

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Option 1 is perfect, but you need good software to do it. I use Acronis TrueImage. It's completely worth the price, because even after you use it once to clone your drive, you can use it to maintain bare-metal regular backups to DVD or something so that your data is always safe. :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    You can get 2.5" hard drive (laptop size) external enclosures like this or this for very little on eBay. You can potentially save a LOT of money versus purchasing at a retailer. Just ensure that the enclosure is USB 2.0, as USB 1.1 is painfully slow for imaging the contents of a hard drive. You can also find 2.5" drives on eBay for very reasonable prices. My preferred 2.5" hard drive brands are Samsung and Toshiba. If you do look at eBay for enclosures and drives, there are also many kits available that include both the drive and the enclosure. Make sure though, that the drive included in the kit is removable from the enclosure. That way you can make the image and in a couple simple steps remove it from the enclosure and mount it in your laptop. There reason I mentioned this is that a lot of ready made external backup drives for desktop computers do not have removable hard drives, and many of those drives are older tech, very slow drives.
  • TimseyTimsey
    edited March 2007
    I use Acronis TrueImage too, and also recommend it.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    1st choice = Acronis TrueImage
    2nd choice + Symantec (Norton) Ghost

    Both are well worth the money.
  • JussiJussi UP of MI
    edited March 2007
    Any comments about Apricorn? Seems to be very much like Acronis? Somewhat better in pricing. Their software includes USB 2 enclosure and USB cable.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Never heard of it. Please post a link.

    OK, I found it. The write-up was a bit vague. It appears to me the hard drive is NOT removable from the enclosure. That means you are stuck with the integral drive and can't swap it out for a larger capacity drive and you can't install it in your laptop. Additionally, as is usual with non-removable external kits, the included hard drive probably is the cheapest, slowest drive that the manufacturer could find - meaning SLOW and possibly short-lived. Look around on eBay. You should be able to find a new, major brand 2.5" hard drive for a very good price. For the enclosure, there's no reason you should have to pay more than $15 for the enclosure, shipping included.

    If you don't mind a slow drive that cannot be upgraded, then maybe this Apricorn brand might be a good choice for you, as the imaging software is included. I've never heard of that brand before, but who knows, maybe it's solid.
  • JussiJussi UP of MI
    edited March 2007
    I am not sure we read the same thing. They do have kits which include the HD as an option but you are also free to supply what ever HD you like. The HD can be removed from the enclosure after cloning and installed in your laptop.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Please provide a link. I can be more helpful if I know specifically what you're talking about.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Your link.

    Jussi, it appears that would work. I don't know anything about that brand of backup/imaging software.
  • JussiJussi UP of MI
    edited March 2007
    A short update on my upgrade/backup project. I received the Apricorn cloning software along with USB enclosure and cable today. Within half an hour my existing hard drive was cloned and a 15 minutes later the new upgraded hard drive was up and running. Very pleased with the transition. The package from Apricorn came to less than $50 so the whole upgrade was relatively inexpensive. The new hard drive came through NewEgg with excellent delivery. I now have my old drive as a backup,if and when.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Well done! Looks you got good software and hardware all for a very reasonable price. Now keep that sucker backed up so that a hardware failure in the future will be no big deal to you! Wish more people were forward thinking like you.
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