HELP DESK
Backup drive may preserve files
By Kim Komando
Gannett News Service
A home computer's hard drive can fail without notice. When it does, chances are good that all the photos, letters, music and anything else stored on it are gone.
Unless you have a backup.
The best backup media depends largely on how many files you have to back up. Forget floppy disks. These hold 1.4 megabytes of data, which could be the size of a single digital photograph.
Today's huge multimedia files make using CDs impractical for some. CDs hold up to 700MB. Saving files on DVDs offers more space. Even then, DVDs are limited to about 4.7 gigabytes.
When your backup needs exceed standard media constraints, consider adding an additional hard drive. Internal drives are cheap. If you watch the sales, a 250GB model costs about $150.
Installation not difficult
On a scale of one to 10, installing an internal hard drive rates about a five. On most Windows machines, you must open the case and mount the new drive under the original. A cable connects them to the motherboard. The main hard drive is configured as a master; the add-on is the slave.
Setting this configuration is handled in different ways depending on the age and type of computers. Sometimes the computer's BIOS, or basic input-output system, can make the determination automatically, or you can set it in the BIOS setup menu. Other times, you'll have to set "jumpers," which are special switches on the back of a hard drive.
Be sure to buy a drive packaged as a retail version. Those include installation instructions. Bare drives do not, but you may be able to find instructions online.
External drive option
If opening a computer's case sounds too tough, consider adding an external hard drive. About the size of a hardback book, these drives usually cost more than the internal models because you're paying for the case that houses the hard drive and its power supply. For example, a Maxtor 200GB external hard drive runs $300.
FireWire and Universal Serial Bus 2.0 are two interfaces you can use to connect an external hard drive. FireWire is much faster than USB 2.0, but not all computers are equipped with FireWire. All Apple computers come with FireWire ports. Some Windows machines do, too, but if you need to add one, it will cost less than $50, and you'll have to install a circuit card into one of your PC's expansion slots.
With the monstrous space offered by an additional drive, you may be tempted to back up everything on the main drive.
Documents, music files, video files and other things you have created are the most important data. You can reinstall your applications and operating system from the master discs if your hard drive goes south.
