External Hard Drive?

The Howling Wolves

The Howling Wolves

Vista Guru
I have a 500GB MY BOOK external hard drive that I use for my monthly backup.
I did a right click/properties/general and saw My Book is almost used up.

Do I format the external drive and start another back up series?
Is there a way I can back up over the previous data?
As you can tell I am new to external hard drives....
Thanks for any and all help.
Dennis:o
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilon Elite
    CPU
    Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Quad CPU [email protected]
    Motherboard
    ASUS eK Berkeley
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 Vivid Color Widescreen LCD
    Cooling
    That's where I keep my beer
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Uverse DSL
An external hard drive is nothing but a big folder. Whatever you do in a folder (or most everything), you can do on the drive. I suggest you just delete the oldest backups to get the free space.
But a lot of backup/imaging programs manage the space if you specify it. What program are you actually using for the backups? If it is the Vista built-in facilities, I recommend to quickly change because the Vista stuff does not work half of the time if you want to recover your data..
Post back and we will discuss it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
whs said:
An external hard drive is nothing but a big folder. Whatever you do in a folder (or most everything), you can do on the drive. I suggest you just delete the oldest backups to get the free space.
But a lot of backup/imaging programs manage the space if you specify it. What program are you actually using for the backups? If it is the Vista built-in facilities, I recommend to quickly change because the Vista stuff does not work half of the time if you want to recover your data..
Post back and we will discuss it.
Click to expand...
I have Vista Home Premium and was using MY BOOK to a monthly back up in case the system goes down and then using it to do a recovery/restore.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilon Elite
    CPU
    Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Quad CPU [email protected]
    Motherboard
    ASUS eK Berkeley
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 Vivid Color Widescreen LCD
    Cooling
    That's where I keep my beer
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Uverse DSL
But what did you use for backup - and did you make file backups or system images? Home Premium has no imaging facilities, so you must have used another program. Home Premium only has file backup facilities - but with those you cannot restore your system. You have to give me a bit more detail so that I understand what you were doing and what you intended to accomplish.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
whs said:
But what did you use for backup - and did you make file backups or system images? Home Premium has no imaging facilities, so you must have used another program. Home Premium only has file backup facilities - but with those you cannot restore your system. You have to give me a bit more detail so that I understand what you were doing and what you intended to accomplish.
Click to expand...

I must be brain dead today where I was thinking one thing and doing another.
I was thinking (ha ha) that I was backing up the whole system. God only knows why I was thinking that. I needed that external hd like I need a hole in my head. Who knows maybe I do!
Sorry to waste your time when you could have helped someone with a more serious problem.
Thanks for your quick responses to me and consider this case resolved.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilon Elite
    CPU
    Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Quad CPU [email protected]
    Motherboard
    ASUS eK Berkeley
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 Vivid Color Widescreen LCD
    Cooling
    That's where I keep my beer
    Keyboard
    MS WIRELESS
    Mouse
    MS WIRELESS
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Uverse DSL
Hmm, that is a new twist. But I am glad to help if you really want to backup your whole system from time to time. It's real easy.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
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