Backing up hard drive

Question

I purchased my Dimension 8200 (1.7 GHz 60 GB) (512 MB PC800 RDRAM) in 2001.  I have had no problems but realize it is getting old.  Since getting broadband (satellite) internet service my computer boots up very slowly--sometimes taking a good 4 or 5 minutes in the mornings.  The fan also runs from start up.  I read on the wireless forum reasons a computer can become slow and am addressing those issues, but it seems to have happened only since I was connected to broadband.  This may just be a coincidence.   I'd like to buy a back up hard drive just in case but really don't know what to get.  I saw several at Office Depot--Simple Tech 500GB; Maxtor Touch III; Western Digital Dual Drive 'My Book' and Maxtor one touch 4.   The back up systems I see advertise for holding video and photos--nothing about word or excel documents or bookkeeping applications.  This is what I need--nothing personal--all business things that will cause grief if I lose because of a hard drive failure.   Also, do you believe I should replace the 8200 and if so what is best?    If this is the wrong forum, please direct me to the correct one.   Thank you.

tr4 · Answer

The big drives are advertised for pictures,video and music because they take up a lot of space. You could use those or even a smaller drive depending on your needs. If you don't have usb 2.0, backup will be slower but you can let it run while you are doing other things. If your pc is working fine for you, I'd say stay with it. You could always buy another internal drive and use that. The HD is the most likely to fail. A fresh reinstall of windows, followed by updates and then your security suite, then by the rest of your stuff may help. If you have not installed a router, I would do so. Even if you'll only have 1 pc

Storage, Drives & Media

Backing up hard drive

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