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external hard drive questions
Hi.
My pc is messing up and it looks like I am going to have to format the hard drive. I bought an external hard drive to back up my files and I am not sure how it works. Do I just plug it in to the usb port then click and drag the files that I want to back up? What about programs and games, like swtor? Can I back up the swtor files to my external drive so I don't have to download them all over again? Do I just highlight and drag my music files or do I have to put the whole itunes program on the external ?
Sorry for all the questions but I am new to this.
Comments
Your programs you will need to reinstall on the PC I think. Copy/paste itunes over to the new drive may not work.
But you can copy over all of the music files, pictures, movies, documents, ect. just by dragging and dropping.
The external drive I have is simple. Just plug it in to the wall and the PC ( USB ). Go to my computer and it shows as another drive. Just open it and drag/drop, copy, make folders, ect. just like any other drive.
Games i am not sure if just copying them over works or not. I have had it work for some and not for others. Generally better just to reinstall on the primary drive.
Some of the online games that have streaming installer will work by doing the following:
1. Make a backup copy of the game (before formatting)
2. After formatting install the game, but don't let it download. Make another backup copy
3. Try replacing the install folder you just made with the backup copy you made before formatting. With any luck, and if you've kept the same install path that the original game had, it will use the registry settings created by new installer (at step 2), but have all the files from the old installation so you won't need to do large downloads.
4. If it doesn't work, you'll just have to use the backup copy you made at step 2 and let it download all of the files.
Some individual games also work just copying them over. WoW and I think also some other Blizzard games are done so that you can copy them anywhere and they'll keep working.
The drive itself will just pop up in Explorer like any external device (thumb drive, CD, DVD, etc). It may pop up auto-play if it has some software pre-installed on it from the vendor (some backup drives do). It will most likely be pre-formatted and ready to use out of the box.
Most games work via just drag/drop to backup. iTunes can also just drag/drop the media files. Very few programs actually ~need~ a full re-install. FFXI, and Microsoft Office are about the only two I can think of off the top of my head. But you gotta know what to drag/drop (some are just one directory, others are spread in a couple different spots).
You don't need backup software, but it can make it easier, especially if you don't know what to drag/drop or where to drag/drop it to. Most pre-packaged external hard drives will come with some sort of backup software already placed on the drive itself. There is a built-in backup/recovery suite built into Microsoft (but I admit it doesn't seem the most useful).
Here's a list of some free third-party software. I can't really make any recommendations, as I just use the drag/drop method personally.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/backup/tp/free-backup-software.htm
Another option is to Clone the drive. There are a number of options out there you can choose from. I think if you do a bit of looking out there at the programs, you will find one for you.
I know that is how I did it when i had to a few years back .. but I do not recall the program.