Can we talk just a minute about EHD's?

[momtutu]

I do not yet have one but I know I need one. My computer hard drive is only 70GB so I don't need a huge one. Do you all use your ehd's for only back up or do you transfer all of your pictures and/or digi stuff to it and use them to work off of?

I don't know much about them but from reading posts, I'm thinking this is something I need to invest in.

Also, do you use those little stick things for your pictures? Or put everything on CD?

[Shawna]

You might not think you need a very big one now, but believe me they fill up pretty darn fast! When I started digiscrapping in late 2005 I bought a 60gb EHD (which at the time I was sure I'd never fill up lol) and I quickly outgrew it between photos and digi kits!! Now I have a 500gb HD in my desktop and a 250gb EHD for all my stuff, plus I use Mozy online backup as an extra measure of backup so I know my stuff is safe. I hate burning DVD's so I'd rather pay the $4.95/mo. to have it all backed up through Mozy so I know I can get it all reloaded easily.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I have 2 EHD's..both 250 GB. The first one is for backup only. I run a backup every day or so. The second is where I store ALL my digi stuff including pics and finished layouts. All I have on my laptop hard drive is my PSPx2.

I do burn my pics and finished layouts to dvd's every month or so.

[Paula]

I have two EHDs. One is a Seagate 500 gb and one is a Toshiba 250 gb. I burn my photos and files to DVD weekly.

[meems]

i have 2 desktop (160 gb Seagate, 750 gb Maxtor for backup). had a 160gb portable EHD but then outgrew it and now use 320 gb portable EHD for main scrapping stuff and photos. I scrap on a laptop work off the portable EHD.

EHDs will fail too so don't rely on just an EHD for backup/storage. I burn DVDs every once in awhile. I have Carbonite on my desktop for online back up (my scrap stuff is not on my desktop but my photos are).

[AmyM]

My computer is over 5 years old so I have very little hard drive space. I keep my pics on it, but I have had to burn a lot of old pics to DVD.
I have to keep all my scrapping stuff on the EHD. I did one huge back up of all my files earlier this year. Now I've been backing up once a week just so I won't lose anything. If I do, I've got it all but it's gonna be a mess getting it back on the computer. None of the DVD's are labeled with anything, just the date of the back up LOL.

I would like to get another big fat EHD to have another back up source. The one I have now is 160GB

[ColleenSwerb]

I have 2.5 year old, 250GB ehd that I work off of.
I just bought a 500GB ehd that I'm going to use as a master backup. I'll back up to it once a month or so.
My new laptop has a decent HD on it, so I have my most recent pictures on it, all my CT stuff, and some of my newer purchases. Just so that when I'm traveling I dont' have to lug the 250GB ehd with me.
Occasionally I do a DVD back up as well.

All photos and scrap stuff are in several places. That way if one fails, I have other alternatives. I keep thinking about Mozy, but I haven't commited yet.

[SeattleSheri]

EHDs will fail too so don't rely on just an EHD for backup/storage. I burn DVDs every once in awhile. I have Carbonite on my desktop for online back up (my scrap stuff is not on my desktop but my photos are).
ITA! I had an EHD for 60 days and it failed :( I was so dissappointed. I have little confidence in Western Digital and now I'm stuck swapping it out for the same model. Almost everyone I've talked to has had an EHD failure. Luckily I had almost everything backed up on CDs or my regular HD.

[newfiemountiewife]

DH has a 500 GB EHD, which we use to back up all of our pictures, and my scrap stuff. He is a photographer, so he also has everything on his computer's hard drive, some of it is also on my PC's hard drive, so everything is at least backed up twice.

All of my scrap stuff is on the EHD, and also on my laptop's hard drive (500GB). So it's in 2 places also.

[junebug]

i know i'm getting on soon! a big one! I've only got 160GB on the laptop and its almost full, and i don't even have everything on it! i can't stop buying kits....help....lol

[FireWolf]

One thing you really should be aware of is that EHD failure is sure to happen, no matter what you do...the main cause is overheating. 90% of the EHDs out there do not have any type of cooling system which is why they are so small and compact. So, if at all possible find you onw with a built in fan.

Right now I own a very nice Lacie 1TB desktop EHD...with a built in fan. Sure, it's a little bit bigger, a little more expensive, but that is much better than an overheated EHD, IMHO.

[momtutu]

Good input! Thanks everyone! I've been looking into Carbonite as well just for back up. So it looks like some of you actually work from your EHD. I guess a trip to Best Buy is in order for me soon!

[Kat Stokes]

Costco has a 500gb WD for $119 right now.

I have a 250 WD and just back up to it about once a month. I only work off of it if I have transferred kits or pictures over to it that I don't have on my laptop.

[arenee]

I love my portable EHD. It doesn't require an outlet to run. I have a great set up. I have this thing that my laptop sits on with a hole underneath for the harddrive to stay. So I have a very portable system. I need on because I think I may be going thru the change--If my husband pissed me off (by that I mean breath in when he should breath out) I am able to trot my hiney off to the livingroom and scrap til I fall asleep. Sorry that may not have answered your question...............

Back to topic...I have a 250 portable Western Digital. I have over 5000 photos--15 gig. The rest is for all my downloads. 80gig. If I could get a bigger hard drive in the same size, I might upgrade later. But right now 250gig is big enough. It makes me keep things clean and decluttered.

We have a bigger (size and weight) one that we use to back up the laptops often.

[momtutu]

Ok, I got a Western Digital 500Gb "My Book" yesterday at Best Buy. But now I am sooooo frustrated. I got it home, plugged it in and installed it. But...you have to install the 30 day trial of software to be able to back stuff up??? Then, after the free trial, I have to turn around and pay for the software? Are they kidding me? Pay 100 bucks for a EHD and then have to pay more for the program?

There's got to be a way just to copy and paste the stuff I want to download right into that EHD right? I right clicked on the folder I wanted to copy and hit "copy". Then I found my "h" drive which is where the EHD is plugged into and when I right clicked to "paste" there was no paste option. I think I just need to find the right folder in "h" to paste it into.

Ugh!! It shouldn't be that hard.

[ColleenSwerb]

I think copying and pasting is actually bad for the files. I could be wrong, but I think I heard that somewhere.

I just got a 500GB WD too. Not sure if it's a My Book, but it probably is.

Anyway, I didn't install squat. There should be no need. That software is if you want the EHD plugged in at all times, and doing automatic backups on a schedule you set. Personally, I don't do that, I just drag and drop stuff as I see fit every few weeks or so.

Plug the EHD into your comp and then double click on the "My Computer" icon.
It should show up as it's own drive. What I do is then double click on that drive (the new ehd one), and then open a new windows explorer window and go to where my stuff is, and then just drag and drop folders.

[meganmecrazy]

I have two EHD's one is a Seagate 500GB and one is a Western Digital 1TB! LOL! I have had my Seagate for a LONG time and I just got the WD about 4 months ago because of the AWESOME deal on it! I am going to use the Western Digital as a main back up and the Seagate is constantly hooked up to my computer because I that's where I store all of my scrapbook stuff & pictures...I don't have anything on my actual computer except for school stuff.

[sammi]

I just picked up a 500 yest. and put all my scrap stuff and layouts on it. Before I did it my memory was down to 12% and after it shot up to 70! My dh was amazed how much space all that took up! I feel relieved now. I backup once a week.

[Chels85]

i have a 360GB Seagate that's about a year and half old , has all my scrap stuff and photos on it, and i work off of it. I'm also looking to get a portable one so i can take it with me on trips.

[Stacey42]

I have a 110GB WD passport that I use as a secondary drive. My laptop HD is only 60GB. I keep all my photos, my digi stuff, my audiobooks and my music on my my EHD. I have 40GBs of my EHD free & audio books take up as much space as my digi supplies. I've been scrapping for 3 years. I'm just ruthless about deleting things I know I am never going to use so my supplies don't get out of hand. DH suggested I get a new one but with 40Gbs free I just don't see the point in spending the money on one right now.

I also bought a case that turned my old desktop HD into an HD. It is 150GBs and I use it as back up. I also back things up to DVD every couple of months.

[mrs_jb]

I use mine solely for my scrap stuff and my photos. My is a Western Digital 300 GB Passport and I LOVE IT!!!

Also, I have to admit that it's extremely durable too! My husband has dropped it so many times and it's never given me a problem!

[DawnMarch]

I have 2 of the Western Digital 500 GB EHDs. I use one for storage (photos and SB supplies -- so yes, I do scrap from this one), and the other for backup. I also back up to Mozy just to be on the safe side in case of things like power surge, fire, flood, etc. Always good to have an off-site back-up somewhere.

[kscwgirl]

I have a Western Digital.. but I can't remember how big it is. 320 gb maybe. Anyway, all my pics and kits are on there, I scrap off of it, there's no kits or anything on my laptop hard drive. I also back up to Mozy, so if the ehd goes, I might cry a little, but I won't lose all my stuff. LOL

[momtutu]

Wooohoooo - I got it up and going finally! I had to call the support people but they walked me through it. It's really crazy because they wanted me to install this different software which had a 30 day trial and then after 30 days I would have to pay for it. What???? The guy walked me through backing stuff up manually and it is very easy. We also were able to reformat the EHD to get all that other junk off of it that they wanted me to install. Yippee!!

I think I will probably keep working off my main hard drive and just back up to the EHD as it will be faster working off the internal. I have a desktop computer, not a laptop at this point so I should be good to go.

Thanks for all the input - it really helped!