Hi all my name is Kerron, and basically I just wanted to share my opinion on why I think portable external hard drives are a very valuable device to have around. We all have massive amounts of data stored on our internal hard drives whether it’s PC or Mac, and if your like me, the thought of losing all my music collections, videos, photos and important software can be a terrifying experience.

Well I was fortunate (not really) to have one of those so called "Blue Screen Of Death" moments where apparently some sort of system file got corrupted, or so Windows said and for nothing it would boot into my profile. Needless to say, I have never done any sort of backing up in my life ( when I first heard the term "back up" I thought it to be a very difficult and tedious process that only people with technical knowledge could perform) which is why i never really bothered with the task.

Luckily for me I was able to take my PC to the local computer repair shop, and after a quick diagnostic ( like literally quick, the guy powered it on took one look at the error and said he’s gonna have to reformat my hard drive), he then asked if I had previously backed up my data at any point prior to the crash. I kept my cool, and with a calm, relaxed voiced I replied NO. After a very cheeky smile, he told me not to worry he would be able to retrieve my data and "back it up" to a portable external hard drive so he can restore it later. That term external hard drive had sparked my interest.

I was a bit curious to find out how it worked and was getting ready for some long tech jargon (that i would probably have to go look up after agreeing with what he said). Instead he brought out this little back box no bigger than the palm of my hand which isn’t very big, and explained all that all he needed to do was plug it into the USB port and after the windows recognises it automatically, it’s as easy as copy and pasting what ever type of data I like across to the external drive. Now the process to retrieve my data was a more complicated one (which I didn’t quite fully understand) so I won’t get into that. But I was sold on the idea of this little black box that is capable of holding my most valuable data, and the process of " back up" was as simple as copy and paste.

After getting my PC back up an working (big smile), I decided to invest in one of those portable external hard drive (there were also larger sized ones that you can place on your desk, but I like the idea of portable data) for keeping my data safe. I was actually surprised that it was not as expensive as I thought. I paid under $100 USD for my Seagate 250gb portable external hard drive, that was actually more storage space than my internal hard drive (kind of old PC). All I have to do is plug in the external drive into the USB port and it’s as simple as drag and drop my data. Now I rest comfortably knowing my most precious data is safe from unexpected system crashed, and the best of all what i really like about these portable external hard drives are the fact that you can take them with you anywhere and they only weight a few ounces, I’ve seen cell phones weigh more than them.

I highly recommend investing in a portable external hard drive if you have never backed up your data or need more storage space for backing up data, and also if you travel alot and need access to your personal data on the go. Feel free to visit my blog where I discuss certain factors to look at when purchasing a portable external hard drive.

Author: Kerron Ali

I’m Kerron, just and average PC user like most of us, I just wanted to share my uncensored opinion on portable external hard drives and there importance.

Portable External Hard Drives

seagate portable external hard drive

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kerron_Ali

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Hard drives in the computer store data and let you get it back whenever you need.A 1TB hard drive is a special variation of this device, it lets you store 1 Terabytes of data, or 1000 gigabytes.

Hard drives have been using a magnetic principal to store data for the last few decades. It involves a metal disc coated in a layer that holds magnetic status set by the head hovering just a whisker above the surfaces.

These heads are able to determine the bits passing under them while the disks spin away at 4200, 5400 or 7200 rounds per minute in conventional hard disk. This bit is interpreted by internal electronics and then passed on to the motherboard where the operating system can catch it and finally find out what file it is and where it is supposed to go.

A terabyte is a measurement unit for data stored. This is 1000 Gigabytes or to make it more tangible, you would be able to store 220 one sided DVDs on a HDD this big. That’s the capacity of 125 8GB iPods, or equal to 225,000 good quality mp3 tracks. It is enough for most people to store all their albums, movies and documents at home. And if they ever run out of it, there are 1.5TB drives and another 1TB hard disk drive is not very expensive either.

There are two kinds of connectors you should be aware of when you choose a hard disk. The first and oldest connector is the PATA. You will be able to tell it, because it’s about 2 inches wide and has 80 wires running in it. It’s being phased out in favor of the SATA. The sate connector and cable is about the same as a USB connector and cable. It’s faster, more reliable and the controller electronics is more sophisticated. Most modern motherboards and hard disks come with this, if you have the connector, get SATA hard disk drives.

Sata hard disks are faster in data transfer and the manufacturing prices of cables are also lower for obvious reasons. A 80 copper wire cable requires more material while SATA only uses 7 wires.

A 1TB hard drive is slowly becoming factory standard for even OEM computers, it’s the new common capacity. If you’re after a new model because your old HDD died, or simply ran out of capacity, refer to forum threads and reviews before purchasing one. You are going to save yourself some frustration.

I hope you enjoyed this article about the 1TB hard drive. I suggest you continue reading about 500GB external hard drives.

Author: Mika Staplesson

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mika_Staplesson

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