How to Backup and Restore Files with an External Hard Drive

You always hear it is good to backup your computer? But what exactly does this mean? What is a good choice to use to back up your computer? How do you know you can access your pictures, files and music once you store it? Read on for a few simple ways to save and bring back your data on an external hard drive.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• External Hard drive with USB or firewire connection
• Computer with USB ports
• Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista
• CD with External hard drive software on it
• Time
• Files

1. USB cable example (has a flat plug where it attaches to your computer) Connect your external hard drive as needed with the USB cable or Firewire provided. Microsoft Windows should automatically add enough drivers to recognize this device.
2. Insert any CD or DVD into the drive and install additional software.
   In some cases, the installation and driver software is stored internally on the drive. If this is the case, open up the drive folder. Look in computer (or my computer) for the drive if it does not open automatically. Click to install the software and any needed drivers.
   
   Often it is plug and play, meaning it should operate immediately and properly when connected.
3. Once your external hard drive is fully installed on the computers you want to back up, you may see an icon in your system tray (bottom left corner) or an icon on your computer desktop. This is perfectly acceptable and may make your backup easier.
4. To begin the backup process, it is a good idea to use the backup software that came with the drive. This will answer the question "what should I back up?" Sometimes this is done just by pushing a single button located right on the drive. Follow the on screen prompts. This may take 1 to 2 hours depending on how many files are on your computer.
5. If you choose not to use the included backup software, you may drag and drop files right onto the drive, including music, pictures, bookmarks of favorite websites, documents, and files of any type that you want to save.
6. Click on the folder (in my computer) or restart your external hard drive and open to view files to ensure all desired files are stored on the drive. If not, drag and drop to add more files.
7. If you used the software on the hard drive to backup your files, you will need to follow the directions to restore it as well. This restore file will be found on the external hard drive itself along with a few smaller files. Power on the unit. While it is connected by the USB cable, click on the restore file and allow time for it to restore the files to the desired computer.
8. If you did not use the backup software program and simply dragged and dropped files onto your external drive, then drag and drop them back onto the new or additional computer you would like them to be on. You can put your documents directly into the My documents folder, your pictures into My Pictures and so forth.

Tips & Warnings

• Ensure your drive is large enough to handle all the files you wish to back up. Photos take more space than documents will.
• If the backup or restore process fails, retry.

Who Can Help:

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