Hi All, I'm looking for an easy backup solution for a very non-technical friend. He uses a laptop for a bit writing, some photos and some downloads. I've looked at My Passport, My Book and so on, but most get pretty poor reviews on Amazon. Can anyone recommend a reliable, idiot-proof external backup system for a laptop? Many thanks. Ian
hmmm Easy solution i can think of would be, get an standard external hard drive, and just wirte an easy .bat with commands copying his photos and anything else into the external hard drive. then, on windows task manager, create a task that executes the .bat every week or something With this all you have to do its tell your friend to leave the laptop on every friday or something
Spend some money on an external USB hard drive, teach your friend to plug it in and run windows backup.
Maxtor externals come with software for the one touch back up function. It should be OK for backing up files and folders.
Thanks for the suggestions. He doesn't really want to learn more and I don't really want to teach . I have a superb, if a little old, Maxtor HD but I bought a Maxtor Basics a while ago and it's v. poor so Maxtor's off my list, I'm afraid.
You could do away with the external hdd solution and show the user how to use drop box? there are ways of automating backups to it https://www.dropbox.com/
I would recommend the Seagate Replica. You literally just plug it in, agree to install the software and never think of it again. I have had one for a year (I'm an Amazon Vine reviewer) and in some ways it's a bit annoying for techies as its so inflexible. For innocents though, it is truly idiot-proof. Here's a link to the model I reviewed: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Rep...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1281101553&sr=1-1 There's a 500gb version if 250gb isn't enough (which it usually is for non-technical users) In fact, I still use it. With a bit of fiddling, you can make some choices as to what to backup - although the boot drive is compulsory. (The default is just everything, again just what you need for a non-experienced user). As it's bus-powered, I just plug it in once a week & let it update. Then I stick it back in my car. Off-site backup! EDIT: (I wrote that last sentence as f t w - and the forum changed it to "Off site cheesecake"! Huh??!) Caroline
Hi Caroline, That sounds exactly like what he needs! However, he balked at the price and I have to say I agree although it's not that much more than some similar-sized drives Oddly, the reviews of the 500Gb version are rather worse than those of the 250Gb version. I'm currently thinking of a WD external and some backup software that you can schedule although I doubt it'll be as easy as your solution Ian
Do what i said Estandar external Hard Drive, a .Bat file with some DOS copy commands, eschedule. DONE!!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trans-250GB...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1281168622&sr=1-11 Would this be any good? I have 500GB version and it has endured many drops off table. There comes some kind of backup soft whit it and some review told it was quite good actually (I haven't used it my self though).
