Thread: External HD Malfunction

Originally Posted by no_brains_no_worries

So I know that this might be slightly off topic, but are external hard drives worth it? I have a buddy who swears by the one he's got (a 500g one to hold all of his music, movies and porn) but he's not too comp savvy so I am wondering if not upgrading my comp would be better?

Externals are nice, I use mine for extra storage and to backup certain files as well. I built mine (ie bought a good drive and an enclosure and put it in it) around 2.5 years ago and just recently it stopped working, but only because the power supply for the enclosure I bought was pretty crappy.

So yeah, drives still good, now I'm just looking around for another good enclosure.

It also makes it easy to switch stuff between computers if you do that sort of thing.

I personally suggest buying an internal drive and an external enclosure, just as Jared mentioned. I have two 300GB externals, split up between media and games, and they are still going strong, even after three years. The way I see it, is have them as a first line of defense, and then use DVDs and other expendable media to backup the really imporntant stuff. Time is the only problem, as I still haven't gotten around to backing all my stuff up double time. Then again, I'm probably just too paranoid to bother with losing stuff anymore.