Unless they've changed, I do not like the Maxtor One Touch ... any drive that needs its own driver
is asking for problems ... I use pocket size Western Digital drives that I can plug into the USB that simply
work as plug and play units.

I think the WD drives can be formatted NTFS but they come from the factory as FAT ...
I recently used one to back up my laptop using Windows system backup ...
I selected perhaps 12GB of files and (thank you once again uncle Bill), the Windows backup quit
when it hit a  4GB FAT limit ~~ the programmer(s) could not think about such a simple brick
wall ~~ therefore, I have little confidence in the Windows system backup.  Plus, it backs up
everything into a single file so one needs to use the same software for restoration and pray
the back up file was a good one to start with in the first place.

Most backup procedures take a lot of time.  Some backup output may not be easy to restore.

Restoration is a problem because important related data may change even during the backup
process, for example, registry settings.

Cloning drives with reliable ghosting products is also not really much of a solution.

If you can afford it, a better solution is to have removable drives that are fully imaged
with a technology like RAID 1.  Even that's not good enough if your hardware fries
through a power surge.  So you need a really good UPS although that could still
fail.  So a second system that's dynamically synchronized protects you more.
But then the building could burn down when you're not there to carry your
system out the door.  So a remote dynamically synchronized system
gets you even more secure.  Sadly ...

        for most of us, our needs are not that critical ... and if they
        are, our wallets are not that deep.

imho, low level, as much as possible, as cheap as possible helps a bit ...
that's why I like the WinXP XCOPY with the /D switch (without the ":m-d-y" part)
             /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
                                If no date is given, copies only those files whose
                                source time is newer than the destination time.
and /C  (Continues copying even if errors occur) because I
know I will get the majority of files.

Restoring systems, often by reinstalling the o/s is a pain ... it's like
having a heart transplant ... the new system will never be exactly
the same as the old.

The more applications one uses, the harder it is to get back just before the instant of a failure.
E.g.:  instead of simply installing say Windows then Office,
         I'd have to reload my cell phone utilities, my scanner software,
         my business card scanner software, my on and on and on ...

And, of course, there's the gazillion Windows security updates that need to be added
on plus service packs.   

Edward "Purchased a new Maxtor One Touch 4 Plus 500 Gb external hard drive
              fully expecting that [he] could use it as a slave drive to back up [his] personal files
              (Excel, Word and Email) and a few of the more important small programs on [his] machine".

He can take care of the files part with XCOPY and probably be happy.

Backup up the "few of the more important small programs on [his] machine" will only work if
those programs will function properly by being copied back to his machine.  Much software
can not function this way, i.e., one needs to run the full installation instead, then reconfigure it.

Personally, I don't think that I would trust "their special Safety Drill software".

While it would be wonderful if "a backup drive [would] act as a slave allowing you to backup
and retrieve files easily whenever you want", it's likely not going to happen with lower end consumer
solutions.  I have limited experience with the higher end solutions but all solutions have
their drawbacks. 
 
For Ed to "make this thing useful", I would suggest XCOPY ... I would make a different
back up .cmd for every day and schedule it, plus a monthly ones, e.g.:
    sunday.cmd, monday.cmd, ...
    january.cmd, february.cmd, ...
with corresponding target directories on the his Maxtor external drive.

Additionally, he likely has a DVD burner, so he should burn frequent copies of his
most important files a store them off-site just in case his building burns down.

imo, one can never have too much backup.

regards, gerry


vegan gerry lowry
wasaga beach ontario canada

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