2006-12-11 17:33:47 · 7 answers · asked by sherryhrpr 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
Depending on the type of external drive, software may have been bundled with it so you can transfer seemlessly.
Otherwise you'll be ablt to use the drive to back up your personal data. DO NOT backup programs with this method, that is pointless as programs need to be installed.
2006-12-11 17:36:38 · answer #1 · answered by Grant A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the drive came with software, then use it.
If it did not, then you can either buy backup software, or just use the utility that in right in XP.
As others have suggested, backing up programs is pretty useless, and the restore is also pretty hit and miss.
Open My Computer, and right click on the C:\ icon and select properties. Go to the tools tab, and you will be able to access the backup utility that comes with XP.
Use the wizard to set up what you want to back up. Unlike what others are suggesting, Working of C:\ and saving to C:\ is perfectly fine as long as you do scheduled backups. Really, you should restrict where you save things to your documents folder, and just do regular backups of those folders. The more places you have things saved, the more protected you are from data loss.
2006-12-11 19:15:45 · answer #2 · answered by RudeRebel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd recommend you to backup your system to the external drive using True Image by Acronis. True Image is very reliable software and using its latest version you can backup not only your WinXP but also your media library, applications' settings and Outlook files. Using True Image one can either create a compressed image of his system or just clone it. Note that in case you external hdd has a FAt32 file system the image of your system will be spited by True Image because the maximum size of the file supported by this file system is only 4 GIG whereas dealing with NTFS file system you won't encounter such a restriction. So in my habit opinion you should reformat your hard drive before backup.
You can read more about the latest version of True Image here: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
Also you can download a free version here: http://www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7
2006-12-12 22:45:12 · answer #3 · answered by S&H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your external hard drive will probably has a backup program included. Use that to backup your win xp. You'll probably need to install the softwares first before connect it to the usb port on your pc.
2006-12-11 17:38:32 · answer #4 · answered by Ted B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, what do you want to do with it? I would do the following.
Store, manage, keep, squirrel, everything you do from now on, on the storage drive. Don't ever store things like photos on your c: drive.
If you encounter problems with windows, you will simply be able to reinstall it without loosing your data because its all on the storage drive.
Other things to keep on the storage drive would be your mail folder etc...
I would not mess with the onboard windows restore stuff. It's crap.
hope that helps
Nigel
2006-12-11 17:44:16 · answer #5 · answered by Nigel Lew 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You install the drive through device manager and copy your files...! I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems.
Some drive problems can be easily fixed by yourself using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful. Try this site, if you can get what is required
2006-12-11 21:29:29 · answer #6 · answered by BU1 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One way to backup is to copy and paste the files you choose from your C: drive to the USB drive.
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2006-12-11 17:40:23 · answer #7 · answered by John H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋