How to Copy Files to an External Hard Drive

External hard drives provide great storage space for movies, music, pictures and other documents you want to keep safe over time. The drives generally come with either USB 2.0 or Firewire connectors, so they also offer reliable data transfers at high rates of speed. Setting the drives up is usually a straightforward process, and copying files to them from your computer is a snap.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Set up your external hard drive according to its instructions. The two major steps in setting one up are connecting it to your computer and plugging it into an external power source.
2. Install any drivers that came with your drive so your operating system will recognize it. If the drivers are outdated, download and install new ones from the manufacturer's website.
3. Open the "My Computer" panel. You'll see both your regular hard drive (the C: drive) and the external hard drive listed.
4. Double-click the external hard drive's icon to open its window.
5. Drag and drop any files you wish to copy to the external drive into this window.
6. Right-click the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the System Tray and eject the drive once you've finished copying your files.
7. Power down your external hard drive to avoid long-term damage.

Tips & Warnings

• Hunt around the Internet for good deals on drives. With a little searching, you can usually find the size drive you need for a reasonable price.
• You can also copy files by right-clicking them and selecting your external hard drive from the "Send To..." menu.

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