Hi Betti Ann,

I have WesternDigital, Seagate, and Maxtor and they have all be great.  I would buy WD first, probably, or Seagate.  Maxtor is supposedly not at the top, but I've had one for 8 years that is still perfect (passed on to family member).  I think Seagate has the longest warrantee.  

Internal drives are much faster for daily backups.  However, if lightening strikes, you need a failsafe copy (redone occasionally) that is NOT attached in any way to your PC - preferably kept in some other building, in case of fire.  You could trade-out failsafe copies with a friend - you keep his, he keeps  yours - or keep one at your office.  I am not personally a fan of online backups or "cloud" anything - to me that means out of my control and possibly subject to loss or hacking.  I like my backups physical and in my own hands.

One thing I do recommend is to keep your IMPORTANT files folders (identity & finance) encrypted as their native state on your PC.  This way you don't have to worry about encrypting backups or about carrying files around on DVD or flashdrives, because anything important already only exists as an encrypted file or folder.   SecureZip by PKZip is a free utility that will zip up your important files/folders with AES 256-bit encryption, easy as pie.  Just use a GOOD nonsense password/phrase.  An encrypted file is only as good as it's password, no matter what encryption is used.

I have two large internal hard drives (WD & Seagate) and a WD passport drive:

HD#1      Partition C - System (OS, Registry, etc.)  I image this partition with Acronis.
               Partition D - Documents (My Documents folder & other document folders) 

HD#2    Partition E - Duplicate of partition D and config files cherrypicked from C
                                  (maintained with Second Copy, but directly accessible by an OS 
                                  without a special backup application)
             Partition F - Image files from Partition C

Passport - Duplicate of Partition E and Original and Latest image files from F
                  I love this tiny, 350 GB usb drive - fits in the palm of your hand.  
                 I keep it in my small, fireproof safe.
                 
DVD -  Most important files and images go onto DVD and into my safe deposit box.
            Rotated occasionally.  I keep an Acronis image of my Original Fresh System here too.

I use the fastest method (internal drives) for daily backups and the slower methods (external drives & DVDs) for less frequent and fail-safe backups.

I really don't like power transformers, but if you plan to leave an external drive running for long periods of time, an internal fan (requires power transformer) or, (my preference) an ALUMINUM case is a good idea.  Aluminum dissapates heat whereas plastic and steel - not so much.

Newegg & Tiger Direct are good sources.  But watch for sales.  Newegg will email you sales flyers and they have some great sales.  I got my passport drive on ebay.  It was new, but a much better price than I could find anywhere else, and it has been terrific.  Ebay is a great source and you can see the seller's ratings and read buyer's reviews of the sellers.  Most sellers are so anxious to maintain a high seller's rating that they bend over backward to see the buyer happy.  If you go the ebay route, still check out the "user reviews" on Newegg for products you are considering - it's an excellent resource to see how the product has worked for other people, and if it has any quirks that may be relevant to you.  Pay closest attention to more recent reviews and those from people who have had the product longer than just a few weeks.  You can see hundreds of actual purchaser's experiences for a product there.

Good luck with your purchase,
AnnaSummers


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Betti Ann and Preston Smith 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 1:04 PM
Subject: Hard Drives and Docks


Good Afternoon!

My backup hard drive, an external Samsung, is operating intermittently - 
power is dying and kicking back in - both in and out of the case.  So it 
is time to look for an alternative

First question - what is the pecking order of Hard Drives?  I seem to 
get the impression that Hitachis are best followed by Western Digital, 
Seagate - I have no idea where Samsung's, Fujisto and Maxtor stand.  Or 
at the end of the day, are they all sorta kinda the same?

I use my Back up drive to back up the data from my Desktop, to transfer 
that same data to my laptop, and to backup my laptop.  Synchtoy 2 keeps 
it all synchronized nicely and only Microsoft's inability to maintain 
standard data sub-folders between Vista and Xp causes a problem.  I 
suppose Windows 7 will have a new set of 'standard' folders.  Except for 
my annual 4 month migration to southern climates the external drive sits 
on my desk.  When I travel I wrap in layers of towelling and carry it in 
a dedicated laptop bag

With the above lead in, my second question is what are your thoughts on 
which is the better alternative - an external desktop drive, a portable 
hard drive or one or more internal drives plugged into a hard drive 
porting device?

Thanks for any info you might provide that will help me make a better 
decision.

Preston

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