[deadeye dianna]

I'm purchasing 2 large ehds to hold my pics and stuff. I'd like some software that will update automatically each night. Preferably it would detect only the new additions. Any feedback would be appreciated!

[lorac]

I have an EHD connected to my desktop at home and it automatically updates only what is new on my pc. What brand of EHD do you plan on purchasing? I believe that all or at least most, have the capability to set up your back-up preferences including what you want to update and when. And don't forget about an off-site back-up system like Carbonite or Mozy. I use both, plus my EHD and I feel pretty well covered. I don't bother with CD's or DVD's as back ups.

[bjc]

i use mozy too and have pretty much stopped doing the dvds...too time consuming

[deadeye dianna]

I haven't decided on which ehd yet. Need to browse the web. My new computer is due Friday! I would rather not spend money on online space. I am going from Mac to PC so I have a lot of new stuff to learn! I may also need to do something about a font manager. I'm hoping Vista might do the job so I don't have to buy anything.

[JenniferZ]

My Maxtor One Touch 4 automatically backs-up every night at 10PM. You can select the files you want it to back-up and then it backs-up the new files in that folder. (I have it back-up My Documents (which is where all my photos, digi-supplies, personal files are located), Music, Videos and Desktop. You can set your preferences. So far, so good -- but I still back-up to DVD because of "The Fiasco of 1996," which cost us $1500 to recover data from a totally dead hard drive, plus the cost of a new computer. I'm a big back-up freak now.

[Tink]

Hi Dianna... I have recently come across synctoy. It is a free download through microsoft download center. There was a recent post where others were using it as well. I haven't gotten it up & running but it sounds exactly like what I need. I believe there is another called Goodsync which costs about $40 if I remember right. I would give synctoy a try. HTH

[anemone1983]

I've been using SyncToy ever since I've had an EHD that brings my files to my work PC. My main copy is on my home PC HD and the copy is on the EHD...which also serves as a back up. I have several EHDs and use one as a true back up (all of my zip files are there, I'm organizing them to burn to DVD and send off-site -- just in case).

One thing it doesn't do is run automatically. I'm kind of a control freak and like that I pick the time to do it. If you keep up with it, it doesn't take long and doesn't interfere at an inconvenient time.

I used to leave my desktop running 24-hours per day and they can handle that, now I have a laptop and I feel like they're meant to be portable and durable in other ways -- not to be on constantly. Just my personal opinion, but their components are so much smaller and packed together with less ventilation and no potential for liquid cooling and multiple fans, I just feel better shutting down each night. And yes, I do have a cooling pad that runs whenever the laptops is on, I even carry it with me when I'm traveling.