Advice For Backing Up Folders On Independent Storage (Seperate HD)

woodbine said:

If I were to use SyncToy or FreeFileSync, and the ext HD was unplugged from the pc - would these sync programs automatically add new files to the ext HD when I plugged it in again? In other words, would the sync program recognise that new files were added to a left synced folder and couldn't add them to the right synced folder because the HD wasn't connected - and then add the files when ext HD re-connected? Or in this case, would I need to add the new files to the ext HD manually?

If you are not using SyncToy through Task Scheduler, then SyncToy doesn't run and execute the backup automatically when you plug in the USB drive - you need to open SyncToy and run the folder pair you setup for SyncToy.

When you want to do a backup, this is what happens:
1. Plug in USB drive
2. Open SyncToy
3. Run Folder Pair - SyncToy checks what has changed on LEFT and executes backup

If you are using it through Task Scheduler, obviously the USB drive must be plugged in, in order for it to work too.

In summary : when you run SyncToy with the USB drive plugged in, it automatically checks to see what has changed, and backups the files. Only run SyncToy when the USB drive has been plugged in.

Also, is there another way of locking off the ext HD from the pc without needing to keep unplugging it - so that files on the ext HD are safe from anything that happens to the pc?

There are, but they are complex (virtual drives/encrypted containers etc.) and have their own risks. The easiest and safest method is manually unplugging it.

woodbine said:

Have their usual photo folder (left) on pc synced to a mirror photo folder (right) on ext HD, then document folder (left) on pc synced to a mirror document folder on ext HD, and so on?

Yes, you can do it that way, in other words THREE separate folder pairs:

- Photo pair only does photo's
- Document pair only does documents
- Music pair only does music

Or you could lump them all together into ONE folder pair:

- Photo+Document+Music pair does photo's and documents and music

There are no hard and fast rules - everyone will have a different approach depending on their own personal needs. There is no right or wrong way. As long as it works for you, that's what counts.