External Hard Drives for a Dummy

[HEPZIBAH]

For far too long I've had an External Hard Drive sitting on my desk and today I finally plucked up the courage to open the box. Connecting it to my laptop was ultra easy and I kicked myself for not doing it sooner. (OK, even I can cope with plugging in a short cable that links two bits of equipment.) I just knew it couldn't be that easy though, and I was right. There are no instructions in the box! Well that may not be quite true, there are a couple of bits of paper with all sorts of squiggly writing on them, but none that seem to be in English.

What I want to know is...How do I back up my files to this gadget? I've got a HP laptop running (the dreaded) Windows 10 and trying to back up my files to a Toshiba USB 3.0 Hard Drive - Canvio Ready (what's Canvio?). I know I'm being thick but I can't work out how to back up my files to this new (newly unpacked) gadget.



As usual with my computer related questions, please answer in non computer language.

[Horus]

Putting it simply Hepzi, just treat the new device as another drive. Clicking on the 'My Computer' should show it as Drive (whatever letter is next in line) depending upon what you have plugged into your PC so it could be D.E.F.G. etc. but most of these drives will show up with their makers name also, so if it were a Western Digital drive it usually shows up as WD in your drives listing in My Computer. To save files to it you can simply create folders on the new drive as you would with any other programme or drive that you have already and then Drag & Drop or Copy files, images etc to where you want them to be on your new drive. With automatic backup of files you will need to use whichever backup program is available on your PC, but just tell it which drive to backup to.

Usually when you plug in the new drive your PC detects it and the prceedure should go something like this:

1. When you first plug it in, Windows will actually ask you if you want to use it as a backup. Tell it that you do. If you don't get this prompt, you can just go to the Start Menu, type "backup" (without the speech quotes) in the search box, and hit Backup and Restore.

2. From there, click the "Set Up Backup" button. Pick the external drive you plugged in (as I described above) and hit Next. Windows' default settings are probably fine, so you can just hit Next and the next screen too.

3. On the last screen, hit "Save Settings and Run Backup". Windows will make its first backup of your drive, during which you don't want to turn off your computer. After that, it'll make regular backups in the background as you work—you don't need to deal with it again.

If you ever need to restore a file you lost, you can just go to the Start Menu, type in "backup", and go back to "Backup and Restore". You can hit the "Restore My Files" or "Restore Users Files" buttons to get those files back.

Hope this helps
Disclaimer: As I don't use Win 10 myself I cannot say if it still works the same as usual.

[carrie]

Plea to Keefy, we have had some very interesting questions about computer related subjects and very informative answers. For those dummies like myself could we possibly have a new index subject "computers" so that all the questions and answers are grouped together and easily accessed.

[HEPZIBAH]

Thanks Horus. I got a bit further before reading your post in as much as that I seem to have found where the External Storage is recognised on the laptop. Unfortunately, my brain got a bit addled by then and I also got distracted by someone else's problem (that was easier for me to sort out than my own!).
I'm going to rest my brain and read through your information again later, and try to get to grips with it all then. Sometimes 'walkaway' is the best answer.

[Winged Isis]

The trouble is, most new tech stuff, even long-known ones like cameras, no longer come with an instruction booklet, usually just a "quick guide". My Canon camera didn't even come with a case! But they usually provide an online version which you have to print if you want to use a copy away from the screen = more cost to you. I just print pages on a needs basis, not the whole thing.

[Horus]

I will give you a tip contact the manufacturers and complain about the lack of a hard copy manual and chances are they will send you a full photostated copy

[HEPZIBAH]

For the second time in a week I have finally managed to get a gadget connected to the net and managed to find some operating instructions that inform me how to connect said gadget to my computer and open to find the instructions. Hmm...but if that information had been in the box to start with I could have saved hours of my life, a lot of stress, and the temptation to take a hammer tk the gadget.

[Horus]

That seems to be the way with most items these days Hepzi, very little operating instructions included and great reliance on web based information for the end user, cameras are a good example as are many other tech items.