Additional Disk Space

[IAIHMB]

Hey guys, back again for more good advice. I'm looking in to buying an additional 20GIG or more of disk space, but I'm not exactly sure what I want. I would use it to back up my software and other random files. For some reason or another I find myself completely restoring my computer every 2-3 months. Everything goes well until I get to the point where I have to find all of my program installers and backup my software again, that just gets to monotonous. Since I restore fairly often I do not know what type of disk space I should buy, should I go with something like an I-Pod or would an external hard disk be suitable? Could I even use an external hard disk, or would all be lost when I restored? So lost, don't know what to do, thanks for any help guys.

[d_unbeliever]

i think anything would do, it just a matter of organizing your back up files.
for me, i placed/burned all my needed installer in a cd-r coz its cheap, its safe as long as you store it in a right place and you can easily make a copy. hard disk can sometimes crash...

[IAIHMB]

That's what I am doing now. Some of my videos and games are bigger than a DVD+R though, thats where it gets a little tricky. After a little bit of looking external hard drives are considerably cheaper than I-Pods/Nomad Zens/Dell DJs so now the question is can I restore my computer and still keep data on the external hard drive?

[DVD_Ripper]

Hey guys, back again for more good advice. I'm looking in to buying an additional 20GIG or more of disk space, but I'm not exactly sure what I want. I would use it to back up my software and other random files. For some reason or another I find myself completely restoring my computer every 2-3 months. Everything goes well until I get to the point where I have to find all of my program installers and backup my software again, that just gets to monotonous. Since I restore fairly often I do not know what type of disk space I should buy, should I go with something like an I-Pod or would an external hard disk be suitable? Could I even use an external hard disk, or would all be lost when I restored? So lost, don't know what to do, thanks for any help guys.

I think the smallest drives you will find around now will be 60's or 80's ....
For any new installation you will want to reinstall all the apps to make sure all registry entries get made correctly. I would look at an addtional internal 120G IDE drive and add it as your slave drive (if open) or a USB / Fwire drive if you have USB2

Best of luck

[IAIHMB]

Thanks for the response. I want to buy an internal disk, but there are a few things that seem to be getting in the way. First, can I restore my computer without restoring what is on the internal disk, and when it comes time can I restore the internal disk without restoring the computer? And second, I plan on buying a new PC case in a few weeks, I have no idea what that will effect when I decide what I need. The PC case will probably be a pain in the ass, the farthest my computer experience goes is installing additional RAM and PCI cards.

[thecoalman]

First, can I restore my computer without restoring what is on the internal disk, and when it comes time can I restore the internal disk without restoring the computer?

If by this you mean can you just copy the program folders to a different drive then copy them back after a fresh install the answer is no. Every program you wish to use has to be reinstalled from the installation CD or installation file. When backing up you only need to backup your files not the entire folder.

This is what I do, I save everthing that can't be replaced in My Documents that can possibly be placed there. Most apps have options for where files are saved that cannot be replaced, I always put them in My Documents. I also have a copy of the files I download that I may want to reinstall in My Documents, updates, patches etc. I make a DVD backup of these files and a backup on my second drive. If I need to reinstall windows it's simply a matter of reinstalling my aps from cd, reinstalling the updates, patches and drivers in my backup folder and that's it. Additionally if both hard drives fail I have a DVD backup plus I have a backup of my most important files offsite in a secure undisclosed location with Dick Cheney.

Waht I would like to know is why you need to reinstall windows every 2 or 3 months. If you haven't already done so the next time you do make sure you do a full format of your drive, that will give you a completeley clean slate.

[IAIHMB]

I really don't know how to explain what I need, I guess I pretty much want a 80GIG floppy disk (not really, just a comparison.) :P

Edit: This looks fairly priced, and has some good reviews. Anyone here had any experience with PC mail orders? :P

[iooi]

I would be tempted to install a new drive like you suggested.
Back up all the data you need onto disks, remember to check they work OK before you delete all the files off your drive.
Do a fresh install of windows add all the programs you need, then create a copy or image onto the new drive using the software supplied or downloaded from manufacture's site. You can then remove that drive and store someplace safe. Next time you need to re-install everything you just dig that drive out and off you go. Doing the same over again on the other drive.
Just wonder what you do that requires you to reinstall every couple of months.......
I hate reinstall's you always lose something you need and waste hours putting things back as they were. NOT what computers were designed for..

[IAIHMB]

It isn't that I have to restore every couple of months, that is just how it has been since I have gotten my PC. I got it 4 months ago and I have had to restore twice. The first time was because I had over enabled 40 startup processes after I had everything installed, that slowed my computer down to a crawl. When I restored and removed all of the extra software my PC came with I still had over 25 enabled startup processes, after some research it was down to about 10. The second time I had to restore was when myh power went out when my PC was on (yes I have a surge protector.) :P When it restarted windows brung up a "vital error" and from there on my PC was nutty. Now I am down to 30 startup processes (17 enabled, 13 disabled) and all is well. I just want to be prepared the next time () this happens, it was horrible having to dig up all my installers and backing up all of my software again.

[thecoalman]

If waht you want to do is make an exact copy of your current drive onto another drive and keep it constant look into a RAID 1 controller and a identical drive as your current one. This will constantly keep an exact copy of your current drive on the second drive. Biut it seems like a little bit of overkill to me unless the data you are trying to mirror is in a constant state of change and absolutley has to be backed up (e.g. lots of financial data)

[IAIHMB]

Nah, I don't need anything like that. I just hate having to restore and find all my installers and back up my software again. I've tried backing them up on DVDs but some of my stuff is bigger than a DVD.