Best External Hard Drive

Mark · 05 Aug 2009

FrogHopper said:

That link doesn't work for me.

mlevy · 06 Aug 2009

pparks1 said:

Out of curiosity, what problems are you having with the Windows image backup? I've backed up to a 320GB external USB 2.0 hard drive and have restored numerous times, even to different hard drives without a single issue.

It tells me I can't schedule it because it's an external drive. I don't think it even gives me that as an option, though the drive is functional.

MAYBE it's the 4 GB file limit on FAT32, maybe I'll convert it and try again.

Grim, there wasn't a need to remove all the data then format and restore the data, the a filesystem conversion tool. The command is run the command prompt and is "convert f: /fs:ntfs" where f: is the drive letter.

eggyuk · 07 Aug 2009

So it looks like avoiding Maxtor and getting a WD Mybook seems the way to go. Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna look round to see what deals i can find.

P.S. FrogHopper -those Iosafes look awesome. Only found one site selling them in the uk, not cheaply either.

noyb · 07 Aug 2009

I prefer to build my own using an external Enclosure and a HDD of my choice.
This way, I can easily get to the HDD in the enclosure.

I have a SATA hd in one of these .. That is my next Fresh restore system.
All I have to do is swap the HDD.
Newegg.com - Rosewill RX-358-S

I've had good luck with WD HDDs to put in these -or my computer ..
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Hard Drives,Internal Hard Drives,Western Digital,1TB and higher

mlevy · 07 Aug 2009

Converting to NTFS on the MyBook fixed the Windows Image backup issue, ran it overnight....

matt_0978 · 07 Aug 2009

i'm ntfs all the way, using a 0.5TB (well 500GB but TB sounds better ) freeagent desktop by seagate. had it almost 2 yrs and it's never let me down. think i paid about £50from maplin at the time, it was on special offer.

pparks1 · 07 Aug 2009

mlevy said:

Converting to NTFS on the MyBook fixed the Windows Image backup issue, ran it overnight....

Glad to see that you got it all sorted out. The 4GB limit of FAT32 would certainly present an issue with a large backup file.

mlevy · 08 Aug 2009

pparks1 said:

Glad to see that you got it all sorted out. The 4GB limit of FAT32 would certainly present an issue with a large backup file.

Worst part is, I've even TOLD people about the limit, but it never crossed my mind in this case. The error was misleading, it didn't tell me that it was a file size limitation, it just told me it was an invalid destination.