up til now, I have been creating cd's R/W to back up most of my files. But I am thinking I would like to back up my computer. A friend of mine suggested an external hard dive of 1TB, so I could back it up with different dates in case there was a problem with one of the backups. Does this sound wise? Also do I need to get one that has a back up program or I see something on my XP that says backup-- is this all I need? When you back up a pc does it copy all the system 32 and reg files?
thanks in advance

You can use an external drive to back up, but keep in mind that hard drives don't have as long a life span as CDR's or DVD+R's. Different drives have different average life spans so you'll have to check the product you're ordering.

You can use the backup software in Windows, or just copy the files you absolutely want to save manually. But some people find other software more convenient. Also if you want to create a disk image of your entire hard drive, you'll need software that can do that (like Acronis or Norton's Ghost).

One of my Sons in Law recently "took an image" of all three old drives on my Windows98SE machine as a safety procedure because it has fantastic DOS settings for some of my "really old and difficult to get going" games - several of which I keep permanently installed

He used Acronis.

And it was a good job he did because two weeks later one of those three very old drives died

He was able, by using one of my spare old drives and the imaging he had done, to get my lovely machine back up and running perfectly again - with everything just as it HAD been

Hi, winfrey!

I use a backup system called "Clickfree" and I love it. You plug it into one of the USB ports on the computer (or computers) you want to back up, and it automatically backs up all of your files except your operating system and program files. It then categorizes all of your files (photos, text files, spreadsheets, music, etc.) for easy access, and it will even back up your browser settings, including bookmarks and favorites. You can back up files on more than one computer, and it stores them in separate files. After your initial backup, it then backs up only the files you alter or add. There is no software to install because it's built into the unit.

If you're interested, you can check it out at amazon.com to see which one would suit your needs.

Susan

I have a 1 TB external drive I use just for that purpose - so far, it's worked just fine.

I generally image my initial installs, and then just do incremental backups (or, make specific folder backups).

Because it's shared on the network, I can also do this from any PC in the house - it's quite handy.

Thanks--- everyone for your comments--
guess I'll get a 1 TB. What program do you use for your image InlandAZ?

I use Acronis and Norton Ghost these days.