How to Transfer Files From Internal Hard Drive to an External Hard Drive

Introduction

You need to backup some data as your hard drive could go right this second!

By: John the Expert

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Instructions

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Tips & Warnings:

Copying large files can take a significant amount of time to external drives.
Some files are not copyable under usual circumstances i.e. Volume Information.
Be sure the external has enough space for the new files you are copying onto it.

Step1

Right Click on the Start Button and choose "Explore".

There are many ways to open up Windows Explorer, this method will keep explanation to a minimum.

Step2

Choose the hard drive you would like to copy files from this is usually your C drive. Double click on the drive and it will list all your files and folders.

Step3

Find the folder you would like to backup to the external drive and RIGHT click on it and select "Copy". NOTE: Only click once on the file or folder you would like to copy.

Step4

Next you will need to find your external drive in Windows Explorer. You can go through the list, but your external drive is usually a lettered drive after D: and will typically be labeled with an identifier to help you find it. If you have not connected your drive to your computer by now you should do that step first.

Step5

Right click on the folder in the location you want it to be on the external drive, or right click on the drive itself and choose paste.

Comments

revisitingnixon said

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on 6/27/2007 Congrats on having this article be picked as the winner for the "Top Written Requested How to Article!" Check out the forums and see which other winners we have this week. Check it out at:

http://www.ehow.com/community/forums/forum_1728_ehow-winners:-article-requests.aspx

-Rich

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