External hard drives and Windows

[Marcy]

I have Windows XP home edition that came with my Dell pc 5 years ago. Only
came with 40GB HD space and I have half used already. So I was given a
Western digital (a few years old I think) 1200 BB with 120 GB storage.
I want to put as Many files and things as I can from my Dell to this
external HD just in case my pc dies on me. I have had problems with pc at
times and want this precaution.

I just dont know how to use this External HD. It came with the CD but I am
uncertain how to backup stuff to go on this drive. I can either do manually
or automatically.
I hope someone that has this unit or similar can give me tips or send some
links to where a novice at this can read and understand.
thanks in advance

 

[Don Phillipson]

I have Windows XP home edition that came with my Dell pc 5 years ago. Only
came with 40GB HD space and I have half used already. So I was given a
Western digital (a few years old I think) 1200 BB with 120 GB storage.
I want to put as Many files and things as I can from my Dell to this
external HD just in case my pc dies on me. I have had problems with pc at
times and want this precaution.

I just dont know how to use this External HD. It came with the CD but I am
uncertain how to backup stuff to go on this drive. I can either do manually
or automatically.

Most "external" hard drives these days connect as
USB i.e. you buy a new USB cable (if you do not
have one already) and connect it to any USB socket
on your Dell PC. If the drive is already formatted, it will
announce its arrival in the Systray (bottom right) and
then appear in EXPLORER (My Computer) as a drive
with the next free drive letter.

If still uncertain how to proceed, make a System Recovery
point on the PC if not done in the last 2 to 4 weeks, then
put the WD CD into the Dell PC.
1. If you are prompted to instal software associated
with the WD HD you can do that (and uninstal it later if
not needed.) The System Recovery point means you
can turn the clock back to yesterday if anything goes
wrong.
2. If no prompts occur, look through the CD for a
documentation file. If no filename suggests itself as
likely, look for a PDF file and read it.
3. Since you have plenty of space, you might as
well clone the whole hard drive contents to the
external drive. Acronis software is popular for this
function (see www.acronis.com.)