boarderboy Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 Is either more appropriate, or faster-writing, for limited hard drive backups? Does Manufacturer, or Price Indicate anything significant? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxguitarist Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 USB will likely be cheaper per GB. Brands are mattering less & less, though I'd still suggest you consider DVDs instead, as they are (slightly) more reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 why not a second hard drive? a external drive, a 1 TB goes for $120 or so. the key is to not use it much and start making back ups once a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pushee Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I'm with Bobdea on this. An external hard drive is not expensive. Hook it up, do your backup, then take it off line and power down so it won't be subect to power surges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Buggs Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I have a Maxtor 180 1 touch mini that gets its power from USB and can be set to auto back up you can specify what files or all files. Set it and forget it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 I use a WD Passport -- been flawless in many months I have had it. Also works of the USB, and fits in my pocket. It is a small one at only 160GB -- but cheap off of Ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted November 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Thanks for the replies, and for the suggestions on hard-drives. I already have a converted external drive, but I was looking for something very small and more-or-less bulletproof. Will often carry in my pack while biking. We frequently use a wood stove for winter heating, and I want an always outta-the-house backup just for critical files. Bought an 8 Gb USB stick ($19) that works OK. However, it doesn't seem to want to be formatted in NTFS. Is FAT 32 the only format for USB sticks, or am I doing something wrong with my process? OS is Windows XP. Thanks! :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 why do you want NTFS on the stick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 why do you want NTFS on the stick? What he said... You've got me curious.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 NTFS format is used for, among other things: -Faster read and write?? Don't remember on the speeds -More general reliability and security -Lift on filesize cap Take above with a grain of salt. They're just the general arguments I hear about 'em. In any case, there aren't any problems with with that setup, especially if you're using only Windows systems. Edit: Having raised my curiosity, I did a couple google searches. Seems like you gain everything that one would consider advantageous with NTFS, but it does cause more writing cycles. If you're not in the know, flash memory can only handle a limited number of writes before it starts dying out, though that number is extremely high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I used to use USB sticks for 6th and 7th grade on a near daily basis with FAT32, never had any problems, or really cared about speed. Reliability and security can't be quantified, so I'm not going to count those; FWIW I never had any issues. Now, no filesize cap, THAT I like. Worth it in itself. Unfortunately, I just use e-mail for everything now. Since I don't really need to carry something around longer than to whatever class I need it in, I just email it to myself, log in on the teacher's puter, and use their printer, and make my mommy's taxes frickin worth it! :lol: If I need a file for a few days, just keep it in my inbox. I also just have a pile of docs saved on my own computer for computer programming (fine, my own virtual machine, we're not THAT far ahead that each student has a computer to call their own at all times) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Whatever you choose, do your backups. I just spent a day recovering data from my brother's failed hard drive. Of course, he had no backups and he doesn't know a boot sector from a kick in the ass . Which, by the way, is exactly what I gave him after he told me he had 4 years of photos on the drive and not a single backup. Floss your teeth. Backup your hard drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 if it is really critical data you should have a magnetic backup and an optically written backup. i usually make two dvds of really important stuff. with that info on laptop, main computer and an external hard drive. call me paranoid but it is what i do. looking into raid setups now. with low cost hard drives no reason not to at least have a clone to store off site and backup once a month or ????? sorry for no caps. one handed typing with sick girl in the other arm watching sheryl crow on cbs sunday morning. the best "news" show on tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boarderboy Posted November 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 why do you want NTFS on the stick? Somewhere back in the dark recesses of my mind, I thought I remembered that NTFS is more efficient and that, sometimes, NTFS and FAT32 don't play well together. However, since the great majority of currently-marketed mem sticks will be used on XP and Vista OS, I guess it makes sense that FAT files don't matter for small backups. Elsewhere, thanks for noting that redundant optical backups stored off-site are the ultimate security. And please, should anyone be tempted, don't try to floss your hard drive or back-up your teeth. It doesn't work, and it can hurt ... chow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 does NTFS offer any advantages over USB to a flash device? file size cap should not effect most people. fat32 has a 2TB limit, fat16 has a 4gb limit but no one uses fat16 anymore. don't see why it would matter to you, USB and flash are both slower than a HD anyway, so any advantages should be minimal. should you need a partition bigger than 32 gb (is there even a flash drive on that market this big?) create the partition either with a 3rd party app OR with a non MS OS. security, if you're worried about security a safe is your best bet anyway! http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;184006 NTFS is better, no doubt but for a thumb drive I think it's a waste of time. be better off getting a second drive and having to backups. redundancy has SAVED my ass. I had a disk fail mid back up when that happened it made the backup only semi useable. I had awhile before made a second backup of my critical files on a different disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 It doesn't work, and it can hurt ... chow It only hurts until you do it enough to get the inflammation down so they don't bleed anymore, silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 if it is really critical data you should have a magnetic backup and an optically written backup. i usually make two dvds of really important stuff. with that info on laptop, main computer and an external hard drive. call me paranoid but it is what i do. looking into raid setups now.with low cost hard drives no reason not to at least have a clone to store off site and backup once a month or ????? I wouldn't bother with this to be honest with you. Online backup services are super cheap and reliable. If you have a Mac, MobileMe is $99/year. You get 200GB or storage. With www.mozy.com, it's $4.95 a month for unlimited data for personal use. For $60 a year, well worth the piece of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 I wouldn't bother with this to be honest with you. Online backup services are super cheap and reliable. If you have a Mac, MobileMe is $99/year. You get 200GB or storage.With www.mozy.com, it's $4.95 a month for unlimited data for personal use. For $60 a year, well worth the piece of mind. mobileme should work with PC as well. nice if you have a iphone!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 For $99 a year I think I'll just buy an external hard drive thats 3-4 times the size of my lap top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 file size cap should not effect most people. fat32 has a 2TB limit, fat16 has a 4gb limit but no one uses fat16 anymore. Those 2tb and 4gb figures are the entire disk volume limits, no? fat32 should have a ~4gb file size limit... right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 Those 2tb and 4gb figures are the entire disk volume limits, no? fat32 should have a ~4gb file size limit... right? the 2tb limit is partition size there's a work around for the 4 gb file size limit. don't know the details though. that said, what single file do you have that is that size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 the 2tb limit is partition sizethere's a work around for the 4 gb file size limit. don't know the details though. that said, what single file do you have that is that size? lolpr0n. You have it too. Big .rar files. Sometimes you just can't leave home without em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 lol G33K, U sux teh pen0r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 the 2tb limit is partition sizethere's a work around for the 4 gb file size limit. don't know the details though. that said, what single file do you have that is that size? Well... I'm not claiming that I'm personally affected, and of course the layman isn't, either, if that's what you're getting at. And if it needs to be said, there are people out there that archive disc images, large media files, and the like, which there are an abundance of. The only well-known, of-the-norm workaround for FAT I know is to start splitting files, but that is not so convenient. That also doesn't help to actually read the media though; only for backing it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingCrimson Posted November 30, 2008 Report Share Posted November 30, 2008 lolG33K, U sux teh pen0r nou! f4gg37! i r 1337 u $tupid fr00b Sidenote, you wanna know when you're REALLY a geek? When at first glance, $tupid looks like you mean a string, called tupid. Jesus.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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