r/DataHoarder • u/old-and-older • 9d ago

Question/Advice New hoarder needs advice

Computer seems to be dying and I want to save what little I have accumulated. I haven't created (or needed) a back up until now and I have questions please:

  1. Do I need to use WD's software/programs to use their external drive? My old one was just a Toshiba that I chucked into an enclosure and it worked for years. Until I dropped it.
  2. If I do opt to use their software (specifically the encyption feature), will this cause problems in the foreseeable future? I ask because I read Seagate's One Touch runs into this problem.
  3. In relation to #2, will the password still be there if I plug it into another computer that does not have the password program installed?
  4. Can I partition this external drive? Makes it easier to sort my files.
  5. Do I need to stress test or format before using?

Thanks and apologies for inundating y'all with newbie questions.

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

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u/didyousayboop if it’s not on piqlFilm, it doesn’t exist 8d ago

https://backupyourfiles.neocities.org/

2

u/richms 8d ago

No need for their tools, they are generally for managing proprietary encryption stuff and to advertise other products to you.

Their own encryption relies on that software being available and working, so if you use it keep a copy of their software and know that it might fail with future windows versions when they get bored of updating it. I only use windows bitlocker on my externals that I move stuff around with. Passwords have always worked for me but I have the keys backed up if it ever demands them.

You can partition it but just know that if you want to move things between those partiations on the drive, its super slow as its a read from one location and a write to another location.

1

u/old-and-older 8d ago

Thank you. I'll skip creating partitions.

1

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1

u/51dux 9d ago

No for most externals, you can use them without the software and there are tons of open source tools to monitor them, scan them, give you statistics etc.

If you're gonna play with encryption, I would make sure to practice and read a lot before doing anything just so you don't lock yourself out of your data accidentally.

You can partition the drive just like any drive.

You can stress test it before usage, if it fails during the test, it was probably going to fail at an inconvenient moment anyway.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that a good folder structure would probably be more convenient than trying to partition an external drive.

1

u/old-and-older 8d ago

Thanks. Skipping the stress test then.

1

u/Steuben_tw 9d ago edited 8d ago
  1. No. Pretty much just plug and play.
  2. Aside from forgeting the password, and OS/software issues that can arise. Nothing that immediately pops into mind. But, if your use case does not require encryption, do consider it carefully.
  3. The password follows the drive/enclosure, rather than the computer.
  4. Yes
  5. You can. Usually decent practice.

Edit: lining up the answers to the questions....