Archive for the ‘hardware’ Category

The computer hard drive storage capacity setup on my pc 3 years ago seemed like a forever solution until just recently. Imagine the shock of seeing a computer alert warning that open capacity on the 250Gb hard drive storage was dangerously low at 4%.

Rather than buy a new pc my solution was the WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN 1Tb External Hard Drive from Western Digital. The photo here shows the new My Book Essential 1Tb hard drive on my desk next to the pc tower. You can buy alternate capacity of 500Gb or 2Tb, also.

Once installed, mouse over the WD icon in the taskbar and it indicates storage used as a percentage plus a temperature indicator with “ok”.

The photo shown has the box (left) and actual external drive (right). My Book is an appropriate name. At approximately 7″ tall with air vents on 3 sides the add-on is shaped like a small thick book.

The backup system chosen 3 years ago was a Western Digital 250Gb external hard drive at $150 plus separate backup software for $100 for $250 total. The new WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN 1Tb external hard drive has 4x the storage for $99 (July 2010), plus includes excellent backup software that installs automatically. Thus total cost for bigger and better was cut more than half.

In 2007 I never imagined filling up a 250Gb hard drive. By the time I need a 2Tb drive I’ll be overdue for a new pc. The plug and play setup and installation of the WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN 1Tb was surprisingly fast and simple.

I was mildly disappointed that the software does not mirror my folder structure but splits storage into folders by file type: system, pictures, other, music, movies, mail, and documents. I archive and sometimes delete by entire project folder not by individual files, so I went to the WD forum for archive advice.

One solution from the WD community forum is keep two copies of the file you would delete or archive with one as the “original” and one on the “backup” drive so you have them stored in different locations. I’ve decided to store 50Gb of the original files on the retired WD 250Gb drive. There are already backups on the new external drive, so now I can safely remove them from my computer to free up storage space.

Overall I’m pleased with the great value and ease of use of the WDBAAF0010HBK-NESN. In particular I was very impressed with the software, the speed of the initial backup, and the automated real time backup function. The automation instead of manual backups means my 2007 post Surviving the Inevitable Hard Drive Crash warning about regular backups is now even easier with an external hard drive upgrade.

It happens, especially for small business owners. Hard drives crash, and for me the inevitable took 10 years to rear it’s ugly head for the first time. Surviving a hard drive crash usually means long hours attempting to recover what you may have taken for granted. The computer gremlins hit me last year, and I lost months of custom graphic art because weekly backup of my new computer manually seemed unnecessary. What a mistake that was!

Fortunately, all the client website designs were online and recoverable through ftp. Recreating custom business card artwork and post cards was another matter. Clients looking to make changes have sent me their originals, and recreating cards simply took time. After researching backup software and external drives, the $250 that I spent was worthwhile insurance.

My system now executes automatic daily backups using Genie Backup Manager Home 7.0 software for less than $100, and a Western Digital 250Gb external hard drive WD2500B007 for less than $150 purchased from newegg.com. Each was selected after more long hours searching through product reviews. The hard drive has cool neon light effects that may be turned off, and after testing a few times for overheating, it fits snugly kept in a desk drawer.

The hard drive crash could have been worse. Don’t let this happen to you. If you are at risk and do not have a backup system on your small business computer, do it today. After a few months of manual backups to DVD, I realized the effort could be easily automated. Check out the combination of software and hardware I chose by searching in Google, or visit a local retailer for advice.