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Neil Winchurst wrote: > I have been asking around in the local computer shop about the best way > to create backups. The recommendation is to use an external hard drive, > connected via a USB port. > > I find that there are many available of various makes so I am asking for > any advice and recommendations please. And any comments. Recently my > hard drive died on me and had to be replaced. I had some backups, but > not enough. I am trying to be better prepared next time. > > Thanks > > Neil Winchurst > > Hi Neil, I would suggest building your own, by which I mean buying a USB caddy and HD separately. With the pre-built ones you have no real guarantee what make of drive is inside them, and we all know some makes are better than others. A friend of mine had one for Christmas and it packed up within 48 hours. He then bought separate components and it is still going strong. Also depending how much data you are concerned with, you could buy a 2.5" caddy and laptop drive. This is much more portable as they commonly power from the USB and don't require a separate power supply. And of course they are a *lot* smaller. My recommendation would be a Seagate drive of suitable capacity, and a look on Ebuyer for caddies (sometimes referred to as hard disk enclosures). Try and get an aluminium one as the heat dissipation will be much better than the el cheapo plastics. One other point to consider; SATA or PATA. With an external caddy bought yourself you can make that choice. Kind regards, Julian -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html