Windows 10: Connecting an external hard drive to my computer for backup purposes

I have a computer with a 500GB , solid state hard drive and my OS is Windows 10. It's partioned for 3 drives: two are NTFS and one is FT32. I want to connect a Western Digital Passport Ultra to my computer for system backup purposes. WD recommends not to format into multiple drives. It says it is preformatted and will recognize my internal drives. What can I do to back up?

:)

 

Free hard drive backup/restore program?

I am looking for a free (freeware) program that will back up and restore a hard drive. I'm looking to clone a few external hard drives. If the program will backup the used space instead of the whole drive this will be awesome! Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Converting an internal hard drive to an external backup

I want to remove a 3.5 inch internal hard drive from a problematic (dying) desktop and use it as an external backup for a different PC via a USB 2 connection. How do I prepare this hard drive for removal and re-use?

My (few) friends frequently tell me that I know only enough to be dangerous. You folks are apparently very knowledgeable individuals, and I would very much appreciate any assistance you can provide. Perhaps you could just point me in the right direction for reference material, tutorials, etc.

The hard drive in question is a 100GB Seagate ST3100011A (Barracuda 7200.7). According to Seagate's instructions on how to interpret their model numbers, the drive has a 2MB cache and an ATA (IDE?) interface.

I've found a fairly highly-rated external enclosure (Rosewill RX355-U) from a reputable retailer that seems to fit my needs, but I am open to any alternatives you might suggest.

I am completely ignorant as to what I need to do to the hard drive before removal from its sick host. Caches, partitions and the like are totally Greek to me.

I assume the Windows XP operating system installed on the drive will have to be removed at some point in the process, but there is data on the drive that I would like to preserve if possible. The PC for which the hard drive will serve as a backup is running Windows 7.

 

Hard Drive / External Drive + Backups Configuration?

Hey all,

So I'm thinking of changing around my hard drive configuration on my main comp.

At the moment I've got:
1 Internal 500GB (OS, programs, file storage)
2 External 500GB (not really doing much)
1 External 320GB (for my Lightroom photo library)

What I'd like to do, is ditch the 320gb photo drive (its a 2.5").
I'd use one external 500GB for Video files, the other 500GB for Photo files.
Then I'd want two more to backup those files, and have them backed up on our NAS Server.

I'd also have an external 1-2TB drive for OS hard drive backups and such, but thats not part of what I'm going to ask.

So my question for you guys is this:
Should my 500GB Video and 500GB Photo drives be internal? Or External?
If I put them inside the computer, will I get faster speeds?
If they're external, is eSATA/USB 2.0 going to be sufficient for Video editing? (Using full HD video files, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro)

Either way I will have two backup drives (one for video, one for photo) and they'll both be backed up on the server.

So, to have 4 External drives or to have 2 internal and 2 external? That is the question.
What are the benefits of having them internal? What about having them external?

For me, being able to bring my Photo or Video drive with me isn't really a big deal, I probably will never do it. If I would need to though, I could just take one of the external backups.

Also, second question. What kind of backup software do you recommend that would basically make a complete clone of my HD's?

Does any of this make sense?
Any help is appreciated. *Big Grin
~Smee