mi tek skilz r teh suk - please help?

[GreenwoodRover]

So i've been flying without a net for a while, meaning i haven't backed up externally in 8 years ( I know that i'm very stupid). I run a bare bones dell dimension with windows XP, 70gb hard drive 50%full. Today i noticed the old box running very sluggish and jumpy so...
With some newfound xmas cash decided to bite the bullet and started researching and looking for an external back-up solution. My head imediately started swimming with the amazon reviews and various other info overlaod, so I went to the local office depot (i know bad idea) and the sales guy pointed me to a clearance 500GB Maxtor one touch 4 plus. Looked sweet, until I got home installed it and read about plenty of problems on thier own support forum, mostly partitioning issues and usb interface problems.

I'm mostly worried about the photos and music on the home unit.

I'd like to have 2 places/partitions on the back-up unit:
One for "cold storage" meaning last years photos, old tax returns ect, and one spot for my current stuff and system back-up info.

Can anyone recomend a good system? I'm looking for a farily novice easy interface deal (if that even exists).

 

[EvilTOJ]

Are you looking for a fullon PC for data storage, or just an external hard drive? My brother bought something like this and plunked a 1 TB drive into it for backing up his architecture classes.

 

[GreenwoodRover]

The link posted was for an enclosure, I don't already have a spare Hard Drive. I guess I'm looking for both storage and back-up. Meaning i would quarterly move some photos/files to long term storage, and additionally have a place for weekly back-up (the computer is 95% used for internet and email)and system recovery incase of a failure.

 

[nvr2low]

i slapped an HD in an external case and use that. it was already partitioned because it was a main drive in a pc so i didnt have to worry about that but i think windows can do that for you.

my dad was looking to do the same thing, he just picked up and 500G external on sale at bestbuy. i doubt he has partitioned it, just dumped off the stuff he doesnt want to loose if his pc crashes. with external drives getting cheap i would buy two instead of partitioning one, the more drives you are backed up on the less likely you are too loose something.

if you dont need anything that day and can wait on shipping try Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! or TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Components & Electronics you can find some great deals on those sites along with reviews.