External back-up harddrive things, can you tell I don't know what I'm talking about?!

[ArtDeco]

Me again with another technology question for those who know about this stuff :hi:. I've realised I should get some kind of external back-up hard drive thing for our laptop. It has documents pertaining to boring domestic stuff, but also tons of photos of my son which I wouldn't want to lose. I see QVC sell those Click Free things - is that the sort of thing I'm looking for? And are they good value? I imagine if some kind person responds to my witterings they'll ask me how much memory I need and I have no idea - is this a problem?! :blush:

Still waiting for my kids to grow up so they can sort all this stuff out for me :wink:

With grateful thanks :handshake:

 

[vampyre]

Backup is essential, this cannot be yelled enough at people who don't backup.
Click free would be fine for you. You'll be lectured at length about cheaper alternatives but it is simple and efficient.

Tell us what you decide and how you get on, unlike the tv thread :nod:

 

[ArtDeco]

Thanks very much for responding Vampyre :handshake:. I'll look into the Click Free thingumyjigs

Sorry I didn't update on the TV thread :mysmilie_847:. I have to confess I haven't gone down the HD road! I've bought a very boring 19" digital TV from John Lewis. It does have Freeview though so am hoping I can get rid of my Sky subscription as I'm paying £23 a month for CBeebies which is madness. Just waiting for my son to go to his Grandmas so I can root it out of the garage and actually get on with setting it up :nod:

Thanks again :handshake:

 

[BusyMum]

I'm about as good as you AD by the sound of it - I did buy an external hard drive from Staples but I had to get my computer chappie out to install it and explain to me how to do a backup! When I was working we had a video tape that we just bunged into the machine to do the daily backup - how things have changed! Hope you get sorted.

 

[mediastar]

Thank you for this, I don't really have loads of stuff that needs backing up, I don't take many photos, I have a kindle app on my laptop and android tablet, so most of my books are now on the cloud, but I do have quite a few music downloads. X had a few external hard drives, but I have absolutely no idea how to set the one I've still got (turns out he "borrowed" the money to buy two of them from the charity who employed him to run their computer network) up, etc etc. OH well, I do do back ups at work every Friday evening without fail, that is I send the whole thing from the c drive to the network! I barely slept last night, so my brain is slightly scrambled!

 

[ArtDeco]

Mediastar - thanks for responding :handshake:. That all sounds very techy :sweat:!

Carol - VCR is more where I'm at :nod:!

Just rung my best friend who is a webby person in The Smoke and been talked through the scenario in words of one sy-la-bull . She recommends a Seagate 2TB: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005ORY2SK/?tag=shoppingcom03-21

Apparently it's 'backwards compatible' so even if my laptop is only 2.0 USB this thing can cope and when I upgrade it to a 3.0 USB (around 2068 given I'm the kind of person who's just bought a non-HD TV) it'll be ok. 'Futureproof' was her word, which along with 'bouncebackability' is one of my faves de jour :sun:

Any opinions on the Seagate from anyone who's had one? Oooh, it's like tomorrows world today for me is all this :happy:

 

[BusyMum]

Mediastar - thanks for responding :handshake:. That all sounds very techy :sweat:!

Carol - VCR is more where I'm at :nod:!

Just rung my best friend who is a webby person in The Smoke and been talked through the scenario in words of one sy-la-bull . She recommends a Seagate 2TB: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005ORY2SK/?tag=shoppingcom03-21

Apparently it's 'backwards compatible' so even if my laptop is only 2.0 USB this thing can cope and when I upgrade it to a 3.0 USB (around 2068 given I'm the kind of person who's just bought a non-HD TV) it'll be ok. 'Futureproof' was her word, which along with 'bouncebackability' is one of my faves de jour :sun:

Any opinions on the Seagate from anyone who's had one? Oooh, it's like tomorrows world today for me is all this :happy:

backwards compatible is where I'm at when talking about computers!

 

[vampyre]

If you wanted future proof etc why didn't you say so? Seagate are excellent drives and the reviews though somewhat mixed are enthusiastic and it should operate well for you. :rock:

 

[ArtDeco]

Vamps I didn't know I wanted to be 'futureproof' till my friend Louise told me I did, IYKWIM :blush:. The phone conversation went something like this:

Me: Louise [in whiny voice], can I ask for some more techy help?
Louise: Go on...
Me: I need some kind of external back-up hard drive thingy, so I don't lose the photos and whatnot on the laptop. I don't really understand these things as you know...[drifts off]
Louise: Right, a picture equates to about 3 meg, how many pictures have you got now?
Me: Erm, about, erm, loads...
Louise: Do you need it to be portable so you can travel with it?
Me: No, I don't have a life.
Louise: What USB are you using?
Me: Erm...[drifts]
Louise: Right, I'm sending you a link to a product on Amazon. Buy it, shove it in the garage and when I come up next weekend I'll set it up for you. I'll upgrade your anti-virus software and upload the photos you took at the school concert whilst I'm at it.
Me: [in small voice] thankyoooooo...

Hope this puts things in some kind of context

PS: It's a longstanding and reciprocal friendship - I do all her Christmas shopping for her as she hates it. I ring her up and tell her what her family are getting (so she knows when they ring to thank her) and she writes me a cheque in January :sun:

 

[vampyre]

Well done on your arrangement! It sounds as if it's perfect harmony.
I've never had anyone to do stuff (tech, crafty, cooking, whatever) for me which sucks but the only advantage of being self taught is that I usually remember, well sort of, what I'm doing and why.
Mrs Bates always used some cop out or other to leave me in a find out for yourself world and in a way it has served me well.

 

[BusyMum]

Love it AD!

 

[vampyre]

Mediastar if you're cloud friendly already then just pick a service and chuck all your files on it. Then keep it up to date. I use google drive and it's fine.

I'm so paranoid I have cloud, clickfree and NAS backing up all my junk.

 

[mediastar]

That's where I'm going then, I have hotmail, gmail and btinternet accounts, think I will stick with Google though, there is a lot of music on the 1TB external hard drive, so will need to learn how to work that, but baby steps, eh?!

ms x

 

[ArtDeco]

Just a quick update...the Seagate arrived a few days ago and I stuck it in the spare bowl of my KitchenAid . Today I thought I'd better get on with setting it up as it couldn't really do its job if I didn't connect it to the actual literal laptop and copy stuff! So I did, and it really was a case of plug and play which was good. Not sure I know exactly where everything is on it but at least I know it's all there...somewhere...

Thanks again for all advice received :handshake:

 

[vampyre]

Well done! Now keep up the good work :happy: