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Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:25 pm
by fordy
Computer is running very slow so want to back up everything before PC world get their hands on it.

Any suggestions folks.

Have a really basic computer so not looking for 3tb of storage if anything the opposite

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:44 pm
by wine~o
First option...don't let PC World winkers anywhere near it...get down to Maplins and ask their advice regards external HD..I'm sure others will have more to input here...

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:50 pm
by dave.m
If you have an ALDI nearby, pop in and see which HDs they have in stock.

I have a Medion 500GB which is about 5 years old and gets my incremental data backups every week and it holds both the PC and laptop system backups. It is, itself backed up too, just in case, but very reliable at the moment.

dave

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:00 pm
by wine~o
fordy wrote:Computer is running very slow.

Have a really basic computer
Hmmm..how about a registry clean up before anything else?? What spec is your PC??

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:29 pm
by fordy
wine~o wrote:
fordy wrote:Computer is running very slow.

Have a really basic computer
Hmmm..how about a registry clean up before anything else?? What spec is your PC??
It runs slow at times and takes an age to open other things ie Itunes but the abslute worst thing is the start up, id say about 10 minutes to boot up

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:37 pm
by aeromech3
I have a Toshiba USB 160GB HDD for back up, deals on Amazon.

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:45 pm
by wine~o
fordy wrote:
It runs slow at times and takes an age to open other things ie Itunes but the abslute worst thing is the start up, id say about 10 minutes to boot up
Chances are the start up issue is due to opening every program is sight...Dave.M will talk you through how to disable progs at startup, when he spots this thread...How old is your computer??

(oh and just to Iterate...Don't take it to the "Tech guys" at PC World...it'll almost certainly come back in a worse state than when it went in...)

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:56 pm
by ayjay
Been using one of these for a few months now - was recommended to me - trouble free so far.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174844

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:04 pm
by nick200
I have a 500 gb Iomega and so far it is very good but the size is why I got it -

80mm x 110mm x 15mm

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:16 pm
by dave.m
Hi Fordy,
Let's have a look at the slow running and slow startup before you let the Sniffy Shop get their hands on your computer.

Firstly what make of computer and what operating system do you use Windows XP, Vista or 7?

If you do not already have it installed then get Ccleaner and install and run it:

CCLEANER Setup Instructions

Once it has run go online and see if it is any faster. Post back here with what you think.

Also, after running Ccleaner, go back to it and click on Tools in the left hand pane, then click Startup. Make a list of all the programs listed in the Program Column and then paste it here. Unfortunately you cannot copy out of the start list so, if you have a tone of programs listed, type them in a word document then highlite and copy them then paste into your reply.

Run the registry cleaner in Ccleaner but DO NOT get any other registry cleaner 'cos some can do more damage than good and cleaning the registry will not effect the speed noticeably.

dave

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:44 pm
by fordy
dave.m wrote:Hi Fordy,
Let's have a look at the slow running and slow startup before you let the Sniffy Shop get their hands on your computer.

Firstly what make of computer and what operating system do you use Windows XP, Vista or 7?

If you do not already have it installed then get Ccleaner and install and run it:

CCLEANER Setup Instructions

Once it has run go online and see if it is any faster. Post back here with what you think.

Also, after running Ccleaner, go back to it and click on Tools in the left hand pane, then click Startup. Make a list of all the programs listed in the Program Column and then paste it here. Unfortunately you cannot copy out of the start list so, if you have a tone of programs listed, type them in a word document then highlite and copy them then paste into your reply.

Run the registry cleaner in Ccleaner but DO NOT get any other registry cleaner 'cos some can do more damage than good and cleaning the registry will not effect the speed noticeably.

dave
Firstly thanks for your response, i will be back to update when i get the time to download etc etc

Cheers

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:44 am
by ayjay
CCleaner is good, but it will want to install *google chrome* and *yahoo toolbar*, so check what boxes you are ticking/unticking when installing if you don't want these.

Re: Best value external hard drive

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:55 am
by root
ayjay wrote:Been using one of these for a few months now - was recommended to me - trouble free so far.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174844
price to space ratio is good :-)