External Hard Drive Compatability

[cabinetman]

My Laptop is Windows 7, and am having a boot problem, and until I find out what the problem is, I want to back up my hard drive. I have a brand new external hard drive by Verbatim USB 2.0, 500GB. I bought for my desktop which is XP. I've never used it, and ask if it is compatible with Windows 7.

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[All Thumbs]

Yes, it is compatible.

[cabinetman]

Yes, it is compatible.

Thanks for the quick response.

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[Stytooner]

Not sure if you will be able to boot from it.
One of my externals is a Verbatim and I think I remember reading that I could not boot from it.
I only back up any files I often need or that would hurt to loose on it and another internal hard drive. Two drives for back ups are better than one.
My internal backup will not boot either.
If I loose the system, I always start from scratch with fresh installs of everything. Takes a while to do, but you have a better system this way IMO.

[cabinetman]

Not sure if you will be able to boot from it.
One of my externals is a Verbatim and I think I remember reading that I could not boot from it.
I only back up any files I often need or that would hurt to loose on it and another internal hard drive. Two drives for back ups are better than one.
My internal backup will not boot either.
If I loose the system, I always start from scratch with fresh installs of everything. Takes a while to do, but you have a better system this way IMO.

I will just be using it as a back up of files.


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[woodturner]

Not sure if you will be able to boot from it.
One of my externals is a Verbatim and I think I remember reading that I could not boot from it.

Windows7 has problems with some external drives, particularly those that are powered from the USB port.

On a desktop, connecting the drive to a motherboard USB port rather that one of the cabled ports on the front panel may solve the problem (it did for me).

Others have reported on both the Seagate and WD forums that they were not able to get their external HDs to work with Windows7. It appears there are driver issues as well as the power issues. Some have claimed some success with aftermarket drivers, but it is a "proceed at your own risk" proposition.

[LinuxRandal]

It should be compatible with any current OS. One other option if you think the drive is dying (verses wondering if you have a loose cable or something intermittent), is to boot from a Linux disc or usb key and copy the files and folders you want to keep. (documents folder, pictures folder, any folder you created, your bookmarks folder from your web browsers, etc). If you had someone more comfortable then you, you could have them use DD to copy the contents of your hard drive, which you could then replace with the copy.

If you have another machine (assuming the xp machine still works), you might just search YouTube. A quick search and I found one video which may help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJTExLkvT5w

[steve-norrell]

I regularly back up by "data drives" to an external hard drive. I used to use a Seagate USB 2.0 device, but found it to be painfully slow. I changed over to a USB 3.0 and the speed difference is remarkable. You will need a PCI express card to link to the USB 3.0 external drive. If you are willing to pay the extra cost, you will find it well worth it. I also have a second backup external drive that is liked to the computer via an external SATA outlet. The USB 3.0 device can be used with my laptop, which is USB 2.0, provided the correct cable is used.

And, like others have mentioned, I have been unable get the system to boot from either of the external drives.

I am using Windows 7 and I keep my programs on a different physical drive than my data and archives. Both are protected with RAID 0.

Good luck. Regards, Steve.

[DannyT]

i have windows 7 and at least 4 or more external drives. haven't had one that didn't work yet. if the drive isn't formatted when it is first connected it will not show up in my computer. people talk about doing a backup all the time. how many actually a "backup" anything i want to keep i make sure i have other copies of it but as far as doing a "backup" i never do. if you do a backup usually your data isn't available unless you do a restore of that backup. anything you don't want to lose just burn to a disc or make a copy on another pc or external. i would be glad to help if you need any cabinetman.

[woodyb]

the operating system does not care what hard drive you use to backup files to.

if you expect that hard drive to be able to boot then you have to "install" the OS to it. when you backup, you are not "installing" the OS to the drive.

you can "clone" your hard drive and make it bootable but that is not a simple backup operation.

if you just want to backup files/data then any external or internal hard drive will work with any OS you may have installed on your computer.

the hard drive may need to be formatted to the same type of file system as your drive that you are backing up. ( fat32, ntfs, etc. )


robert

[greenacres2]

At the risk of hijacking Cab's thread...is it possible to connect 2 computers to on external HD just for file back-up? My desktop and LOML's laptop are kept pretty close together--and Cab's question coupled with the failure of her laptop last year have me wondering...it would be a great solution if we could share (and cheaper to buy one 1 tb than 2 500 mb externals)

earl

[Stytooner]

While I haven't done it on an external, I think you should be able to partition it the same way you do an internal HD when you do the formatting. That would essentially give you the two 500 GB HD's in one.

[LinuxRandal]

At the risk of hijacking Cab's thread...is it possible to connect 2 computers to on external HD just for file back-up? My desktop and LOML's laptop are kept pretty close together--and Cab's question coupled with the failure of her laptop last year have me wondering...it would be a great solution if we could share (and cheaper to buy one 1 tb than 2 500 mb externals)

earl

With usb, you have to move the cable from one to the other, or if you have a network based drive, you can just send your files to it directly from any computer on the network with permissions.
As long as the computer it is hooked up to works, you could share the drive over the network (say you leave it on a desktop and wirelessly transmit your data to the drive).
All the network/usb stuff I have seen have been dedicated microcomputers that allow your usb stuff to be accessible via the net, to create your own cloud. This slows down file transfers as your sending your stuff online, to yourself (much slower then the typical network speeds at home). I haven't looked at any for quite a while though (there may be something more out there then I have needed to go looking to spend money for).