Looking for recommendations to buy external hard drive for backup.

Solitario · Jun 3, 2019

Hello to the best forum on the web! I'm looking for recommendations on external hard drives to make a backup of my data. I am thinking about selling my pc and I need to make a backup before. If anyone can guide me on which to buy I would be very grateful. Best regards.

Digerati · Jun 3, 2019

Just my 2 cents here but I am not a fan of external drives at all. It just seems to many folks have problems with the enclosures and interfaces. So I cannot really recommend one. But I do have a suggestion. Consider backing up to the cloud. Or just buy another hard drive (or SSD), temporarily install that as a secondary drive in this computer, backup your files to it, then remove the drive before you sell the PC.

Beyond that, you really need to state how much space you need, and your budget.

Solitario · Jun 3, 2019

Thank you so much for the answer. I have also read in other forums that many had problems with their external hard drives. I will look for a solution in the cloud. Thank you very much, topic solved. Best regards.

niemiro · Jun 4, 2019

Hi there,

I agree with Digerati - cloud is best. Cloud may not be perfect, but it's less likely to get damaged by ransomware, dropped, stolen, lost, burnt etc.

Having said that - let's answer your first question at face value anyway. What external hard disk would I recommend?

For an IT professional (i.e. not most people) I would recommend an external hard disk caddy. I have one myself and it's one of the best purchases I ever made. One of these for example:

TeckNet USB 3.0 Hard Drives Docking Station for 2.5 Inch & 3.5 Inch SATA HDD (SATA I/II/III) Support 8TB & UASP, Tool-Free Installation: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LN0GX4I/ref=sspa_mw_detail_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It means you can pick up any old internal hard disk - and just look at the contents. It means you can swap in and out any old disks you have. And buy a cheap but good quality disk separate from the enclosure (a 2TB Western Digital or something like that).

Rather than fiddling around opening cases and plugging cables all the time, I just drop disks in and out of the enclosure all whilst sitting at my desk.

The two disk version is particularly good for copying data one to another.

Would recommend over any sealed up piece of expensive plastic with a cheap / maybe poor quality hard disk inside.

Solitario · Jun 4, 2019

niemiro said:
I agree with Digerati - cloud is best.

Hi, thank you very much. I already have cloud hosting. Now what I need is to compress a folder with more than 100GB of data. What is the best way to compress the folder to the maximum and with which tool? Thank you very much. Best regards.

Solitario · Jun 4, 2019

He won't let me upload the compressed file because it's too big. So I'm uploading the entire folder of my data backup to the cloud. You can close the topic. Thanks to both of you. Best regards.

Digerati · Jun 4, 2019

FTR, I too have a drive docking station and I think it is great. Sorry I should have mentioned them in my previous post. They are espeically nice if you have several drives you need to access as they allow you to "hot-swap" the drive. Their only disadvantage is the drive's controller board is exposed so these docking stations are not really designed for permanent drive access.

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Looking for recommendations to buy external hard drive for backup.

Solitario

Well-known member

Digerati

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Solitario

Well-known member

niemiro

Senior Administrator, Windows Update Expert

Solitario

Well-known member

Solitario

Well-known member

Digerati

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Looking for recommendations to buy external hard drive for backup.

Solitario

Well-known member

Digerati

ModeratorHardware ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Solitario

Well-known member

niemiro

Senior Administrator, Windows Update Expert

Solitario

Well-known member

Solitario

Well-known member

Digerati

ModeratorHardware ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Moderator
Hardware Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)