Losing your precious data can be very painful. Internal computer hard drives can fail for various reasons. It could be caused by the age of the drive, condition of the internal cooling system, physical damage or power failure. Once the hard drive fails, it is very costly to recover the data. Sometimes, the data is no longer recoverable. For this reason, it is wise to keep a backup of all your precious files in a separate storage device. This is where external hard drives come to play a role. Over the years, the price of external hard drives have become more affordable. This is due to the advancement in data storage technology. Now, you can buy a large 1TB (1000 GB) external hard drive for under $70. This small investment will certainly save you a lot of headaches and money in case your computer crashes or hard drive fails.
You have two options when it comes to buying an external hard drive. There are the typical Desktop External Hard Drives and then there are Portable External Hard Drives. The portable versions are thinner, smaller and costlier.
Here are some more benefits to having an external hard drive:
- Speeds up your system by freeing up computer’s internal hard drive space.
- Makes transfer of files between computers easy. Specially useful if you get a new computer.
- If you have an older computer, it will increase your storage capacity.
- Some drives come with software to automatically back up your entire internal drive and also password protect files and folders.
Some Buying Tips for External Hard Drives:
- Always read the review of the drive before buying.
- Wait for a sale. You will save quite a bit of money.
- Choose a drive that can withstand accidental falls.
- Drives from unknown brands may not be very reliable. Brands such as Western Digital, Seagate, Iomega, and Fujitsu are well known.
- If you will be traveling a lot with the drive then the portable version will be more suitable.
- Look for a drive that will work with your operating system.