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[fanta]

check this out... you get a hard drive duplicator for under $100...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=hard+drive+duplicator&x=0&y=0

you get several 1TB hard drives for under $100 each:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007603%20600003269%204026&IsNodeId=1&name=%2450%20-%20%2475

You save all your files to a hard drive... fuck, if you want to, you could even install your OS on one of these hard drives and boot to it if you have a decent computer that supports booting to external media...

Every week, or however often is appropriate, you toss a backup hard drive into the duplicator and hit the 'copy' button.

If you have 4 backup hard drives, and you rotate drives always using the oldest drive, and you backup once a week, this means you can have access to a backup of your files that is 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks old. 

[smick]

I have a 1TB USB hard drive plugged into my Mac.   Every Monday it duplicates the hard drive (256GB) to the external, and I can boot off of it.  ($10 software).

Every hour, Time Machine (built in) runs, and makes a snapshot of my computer.   I can go back and look at these hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month.   This goes on until the hard drive fills up.

Then every week or so, I take my laptop to work and run the drive duplicator on a external drive that lives in my office.  (So I have an offsite backup in case of EL FUEGO)

I'm amazed that windows doesn't have anything that easy.

[robot_god]

I bought an external hard drive and it died in less than two weeks.

[AugustWest]

I bought an external hard drive and it died in less than two weeks.

Musta been an Apple product.

[fanta]

I bought an external hard drive and it died in less than two weeks.

Which died?  The hard drive, or the USB adapter?  When you buy a hard drive/adapter packaged together, you likely get a crappy adapter, and a cheap-ass hard drive as well.  In case of failure, replacing one or the other is also much more difficult.  You should buy a quality hard drive, and you should also buy a quality adapter.

[greenkoolayd]

You should buy a quality hard drive, and you should also buy a quality adapter.

well, bloody hell, captain obvious, thank you so much!

[fanta]

I'm amazed that windows doesn't have anything that easy.

Natural selection in the marketplace favors stupid products over products that work well, and further, natural selection in the market place favors corporate culture that is stupid instead of competent.  This is partly because greed and selgiraffeness and lack of ethics are generally packaged together with incompetence and stupidity, but this is also because of the simple dynamics of the marketplace:  A product that works too well and never has to be replaced and never needs service will not generate the cash flow needed to sustain an ecosystem of advertising and franchising and dealership/supplier/customer relationships such as you see with Windows.  

[fanta]

well, bloody hell, captain obvious, thank you so much!

If it's obvious, then why do people buy external hard drives with an integrated USB adapter?

[robot_god]

Which died?  The hard drive, or the USB adapter?  When you buy a hard drive/adapter packaged together, you likely get a crappy adapter, and a cheap-ass hard drive as well.  In case of failure, replacing one or the other is also much more difficult.  You should buy a quality hard drive, and you should also buy a quality adapter.

The hard drive... where is it... let me see here...

Found it... SimpleTech.  What a piece of shit.  It was one of the cheapest ones.

[fanta]

simpletech doesn't make hard drives.  that is not a brand of hard drive.  It is a brand of USB adapter that happens to have a hard drive already installed inside of it.  If you were to look at the hard drive, you'd probably find it to be a hitachi drive.  It might or might not be in perfectly good working order.  The failure of your "hard drive" is likely not a failure of your hard drive but rather is more likely a failure of your "Simpletech" USB adapter and/or the power adapter that supplies it with electricity.  English motherfucker --  Do you speak it?

okay that's kind of harsh.  I've been a real asshole lately.  here... have a : - )

PS did you check to make sure the power adapter is plugged in?  To the wall?

[Choop]

lately?

[Nabubrush]

Please Hammer don't hurt 'em.

[robot_god]

There was some mechanical problem, the disk was making a clicking sound when it spun.  Somewhere on the internet said that meant it was good for trash.  I really don't care about it.  I have no use for it anyway.

[fanta]

well it depends on the clicking sound.  it depends.  All hard drives click sometimes.

what did you do to it anyway?

why did you hate this hard drive?

[robot_god]

Just let a hard drive die, man.  Let it be at peace.