Where to Put The Dead Bodies?

[USINSPAIN]

I already have one of these but how do I transfer the data off my C drive onto the external hardrive in order to create space ??

[El Cid]

http://m.wikihow.com/Copy-Files-to-an-E ... Hard-Drive

When you are happy that the files have been copied, delete them from the original C: disk.

Sid

[Enrique]

Hi USINSPAIN,
I think Sid's option is the best way to go Forward, a 2TB USB 3 drive ....
I've loads of old IDE HDD (from dead systems)in external cases but hardly ever use them, was a good Idea at the turn of the Century, now with price of disk space at an all time low its not worth using the old HDD's .

[concorde]

Enrique and El Cid, just perusing the info for an external hard drive.
Is the Samsung one a good one, its got hundreds of good reviews on Amazon U.K..
I have been dithering for ages and need someone to make a decision for me!

I've been running a n IMac for over a year now, with 1TB of storage, who knows why, I'll never fill it in a million years.
Everyone keeps telling me I should back everything up, really if I lost the lot tomorrow it wouldn't be the end of the world, I use ICloud for storage anyway.
However, just found out for today only there's a code for £10 off anything over £50 on amazon.
so that must be an omen, to buy the Samsung drive and get a DVD of Arne Dahl, I'm heavily into Swedish/Danish subtitled Crime Series.

I need an answer right now!

[SpanishBlue]

Concorde - the Samsung drive looks fine to me.

Just to clarify, the £10 off is for today only and you must buy from Amazon.co.uk

Also, It cannot be redeemed on products sold by Amazon.co.uk Marketplace platform (including items Fulfilled by Amazon), at any of Amazon.co.uk’s Trusted Partner sites or at any other Amazon site, for example Amazon.es

[concorde]

Yes thanks, I am in the U.K. and I have 50 mins left to order.

However I did quite a bit of research ages ago about external drives and I remember Samsung got slated, it would just be my luck to get a baddie. also they do need formatting for a Mac but that doesn't seem a problem.
The reviews are good and there are very few bad ones but when these fail, they fail pretty spectacularly.
I know they are made by Seagate, and I'm wondering if they are their "cheap range"

Hmm, must not get carried away by a £10 off offer,
Still time to do more research.

[Chunky Monky]

I have had two of the Samsung 2Tb drives for over a year now and they work faultlessly. Any drive can fail.

[SpanishBlue]

I agree Chunky Monky.

Any product that averages 4.5 stars (on the UK site) from well over 8000 reviews means a huge number of people are very happy with it.

Of course anyone can be unlucky and get a dud, but at least buying from Amazon, they are very good should you need to replace it under guarantee.

[concorde]

Well I've decided not get anything for now.
I need to do more research, I've bought things before on impulse and regretted it, so will have another think.

Thanks for all your input, it was gratefully received.

[El Cid]

Hard disk drives are one of the most reliable devices available in the computer world. Used as an external drive for backup occasionally (rather than continuous use inside a PC) the chance of failure is minute.

There are only three major manufacturers, Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital, so you are unlikely to be sold some obscure make.

The technology that is used is now over 40 years old - I think they have had time now to get it pretty well perfect!

Sid

[peteroldracer]

Seems like a lot of anguish over a 50€ purchase..same as a quality meal for two?

[Enrique]

Hi concorde,
Some light reading for your disk research.......................

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003

I would always but Seagate if they are available in the model I want, used to buy thousands of them when I worked for The Firm. Only ever had a few go bad.
Currently have some of all the Makes Sid mentioned...........

Guess you dipped out on a Deal...................

Needed a disk in a hurry the other week so popped into local Computer shop and picked up a Toshiba 2TB, could have got it cheaper on-line but would have had to wait "weeks" for delivery..........

[concorde]

Thanks for your replies and validation of the drives.

It was only when I opened this thread late last night, out of curiosity re- the title, that got me thinking again about buying one.

I had done quite a lot of reading months ago but got bogged down in all the many makes, models and ease of use, huge range of prices and reviews.

Some people go along happily without one, to others they are as vital as their computer.

It can be daunting for would be buyers to ask an opinion/advice as you either get scorn poured upon you as a cheapskate/novice or depending on which site/forum you look at, techie-speak that looks like a foreign language advising eye-wateringly priced models.

Back to the drawing board.

[El Cid]

I see that you have an iMac. In which case, you really should have an external drive as large as your internal drive and then you can use the Apple backup program called "Time Machine". It makes a backup every hour of the whole disk. You can roll back to any point in time and also look at previous versions of your documents etc. It's totally automatic and every Mac should use it.

If it is a recent iMac, it should be using USB 3.0 which is much faster than the old type. Just make sure that you buy a USB 3.0 drive - most of them are now, but there might be an old USB2.0 drive out there looking like a bargain, which it isn't!

There is no significant difference between any of the 2.5" drives that you will find. The internal 3.5" drives can be a bit more complicated.

Anything around €50 - €60 should be fine and you might even pick one up for less.

Sid

[Chunky Monky]

Good summary, Sid.

[Len S]

I'm one of the many computer illiterates and have an iMac. I concur with Sid re Time Machine. Its great, and so simple to use, if required.

[concorde]

Thanks Sid, yes I have a late 2013 IMac, looked at the usb ports and I have a 3.0 port.
It has 1TB of storage and I have read about the Time Machine.

I think I was more concerned about backing up stuff if I decided to upgrade to El Capitan, I am running Mavericks.
Again that is another thing to decide, do I need to do this, or just stick with Mavericks which is all I know. Looked at pros and cons, it's great for some, others the upgrade sent some trying to roll back.

My student grandson has a macbook, he upgraded with no problems but advised me to stick with what I have, probably right!

Sometimes I think I know what I'm talking about, but usually I haven't a clue

[El Cid]

I upgraded to El Capitan with no problems. Yes, there have been a few reports about problems, but remember that you don't hear about all the problem free ones. Compared to upgrading to Windows 10 it is in a different league. Apple updates are very frequent and don't usually give any problems as they are not trying to change the whole system like the Windows upgrades - changes come in gradually and have been tested by a huge number of Beta testers.

You will have absolutely no problems with getting used to it as it looks and feels like Yosemite. If you setup Time Machine before you upgrade, then upgrade, you can easily go back should you wish to but that is pretty unlikely.

To set up Time Machine you will need to reformat the new disk as it will probably be in a Windows format. It's pretty straightforward

http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/04/format-a ... -mac-os-x/

You will then need to set up Time Machine, again, very easy.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201250

Sid

[concorde]

I was thinking of getting a drive that was already compatable with a Mac.
I learned the hard way when I put a flash drive that had windows files on it, these were wiped when I tried it.
I bought a new SanDisk, just 16GB, for the Mac. I have old laptop running vista which I use for 210's.
Can't face starting again on the Mac!

I always try and read up on anything new now, but again can get bogged down with too much info.
Everyone else seems to have effortless ways of doing things!

[El Cid]

All the external disks you are likely to buy will be formatted for Windows. You can use these on an iMac for normal file copying etc, but if you want to use it for Time Machine backup, which is the whole point of having one, you will need to reformat it to get all the options (including being able to boot from it if you have a major problem) on Time Machine.

Sid