For a deeper dive on this topic, check out CNET's guide to digital storage. An external hard drive is a hard disk drive just like the one inside your computer, where you can store any kind of file. Many are often small and portable, making them easy to stow away in a desk drawer or carry with you.
Others are much larger and are designed to sit on your desk. External drives connect to your computer to provide extra storage, usually with a USB cable. Once connected, which involves little more than plugging it in, you can drag and drop or copy files you want from your computer's hard drive to the external drive. Once synced to the drive, those files will live safely away from your computer and offer protection in case your computer gets stolen or damaged.
Hard drives can fail at any time, for many different reasons. One day you may plug in your portable drive and it won't work, which means you won't be able to access the files you've stored on it. It's rare for a newer hard drive to fail completely, and most drives can last years and years before needing to be replaced, but just keep in mind that failures can happen.
External hard drives come in many sizes and storage capacities. A 1TB drive can hold up to a few hundred thousand photos taken with an 8-megapixel camera depending on file size , or several thousand documents. Some external hard drives have a rugged, waterproof or fireproof case and they're worth buying if you're concerned about unforeseen circumstances damaging the drive.
Check out CNET's recommendations for the best storage devices and best portable hard drives. Also make sure to read our guide on using external hard drives as a backup.
Flash drives also called thumbdrives or jump drives are tiny, highly portable drives, often no longer than a stick of gum. They come in a wide variety of designs, from simple sticks to novelty characters , and most can be attached to a keychain or lanyard. This method is very similar to the first one, but uses flash memory a storage chip that can be erased and reused instead. A flash drive plugs into your computer through the USB port and once connected, you can copy or drag and drop files onto it.
Once disconnected, those files will live on the flash drive until you remove them. Flash drives can break down overtime, fail or become corrupted, rendering them useless. You won't be able to access your files if any of these things happen. It's unlikely that a newer flash drive will fail, but it can happen. Flash drives are smaller than external hard drives and thus offer less storage space. Then do you know how to back up files with ease? In this post, we will show you how to back up data on Windows 10 with ease.
You can try them one by one. In order to back up files, you can choose to take a piece of third-party software. Thus, the best file backup software — MiniTool ShadowMaker is recommended. MiniTool ShadowMaker is a professional backup program that can be used to back up the operating system, disk, partition, file, and folder. In addition, it is a user-friendly program to provide protection for your computer and data. To back up files and keep them safe, you can download MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial which can be used for free within 30 days from the following button or choose to purchase an advanced one.
Free Download. Step 1: Download and install the best file backup software and launch it, click Keep Trial and choose Connect in This Computer to continue. Step 2: After entering its main interface, go to the Backup page.
Then click the Source module to choose the backup source. As for data backup, please choose Folders and Files to continue and choose the files you want to back up. Step 3: Returning to the Backup page, click the Destination module to select the destination path so as to save the backup image. It is recommended to choose an external hard drive. In order to get an extraordinary files backup experience, there are three important things you need to pay attention to. Step 4: After having successfully selected the backup source and destination, you can click Back up Now to perform the data backup action immediately.
Or you can choose to click Back up Later to delay the process of files backup. When the process is finished, you have successfully backed up files and have provided protection for the data. From above information, you can see MiniTool ShadowMaker is very easy and convenient to back up files to external hard drives.
With the professional file backup software — MiniTool ShadowMaker, I have successfully backed up my files with ease. Now, I have already provided protection for my data.
Click to tweet. Now, we will introduce the second way to back up computer files. Besides using a piece of file backup software, you can also choose the Windows snap-in tool to back up file. Thus, we will show you how to back up files on Windows 10 with the Windows snap-in tool step by step. Step 1: Type Control Panel in the search box of Windows 10 and choose it to continue.
Step 2: In the popup window, choose the Backup and Restore Windows 7 to continue. Step 3: Next, click Set up backup under Back up or restore your files section to go on. Step 4: Now, you are required to decide where you want to save the backup images and click Next to continue.
Step 5: In the next window, you will see two options. If you want to choose the backup source by yourself, you need to select the Let me choose option and click Next to continue. However, cloud backup is by far the best backup method there is. DropSend online storage offers all these features plus it makes sending large files really easy and quick. Click here to create a free DropSend account and start backing up now. Remember that the best way to back up your files is to combine all three methods.
That way your data will be truly safe. External hard drive Backing up to an external hard drive, or even a USB flash drive, is the most traditional of all backup methods.
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