My backup hard drive went south on me and I need a new back up for my Windows 7 PC in case it crashes. Can I use the Sandisk 128 GB Extreme Pro 3.0 USB Flash Drive for back up? Do I need to format it to NTFS? Can I just plug it in and forget it or do I need to remove it every time I shut down. My backup hard drive went south on me and I need a new back up for my Windows 7 PC in case it crashes. Can I use the Sandisk 128 GB Extreme Pro 3.0 USB Flash Drive for back up? Do I need to format... » Read More My backup hard drive went south on me and I need a new back up for my Windows 7 PC in case it crashes. Can I use the Sandisk 128 GB Extreme Pro 3.0 USB Flash Drive for back up? Do I need to format it to NTFS? Can I just plug it in and forget it or do I need to remove it every time I shut down. « Show Less
81790
You do not want to use NTFS due to it does more read/writes than necessary. Use exfat and it will also be more compatable to other OS's also.
81791
There's no reason why you can't use this drive as a backup.You don't *have* to format it NTFS but using it as FAT will mean you can't copy files larger than 4gb. There might also be performance benefits of using NTFS; I'm not sure.There's no need to remove the drive when you shutdown.
64195
I would never use the SanDisk Ultra Back-up at all, forget about using it for data back-up/ The drive died less then three months after I bought it and SanDisk support was rude and useless. They said they can't help me with my lost data recovery, but said 'feel free to use a third party data recovery service'. The drive is crap and support sucks, so I will never ever use this manufacturers products again. My alternative - Corsair, which is more reliable and is cheaper.
2194924
If your pc is relatively new (up to 6-8 yrs) it is probably USB 2.0 or greater --- and this would be an excellent choice. I use the 128GB for 13 years worth of photos, plus I back up my most critical files there too.
608329
It worked 3TB drive only after firmware update [ didn't even work with usb 3.0 without update] and following instruction from this link. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/i-have-a-3-tb-drive-windows-7-ultimate-wont-format/b1cc3811-f25f-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5. hope it helps.
513138
I would use nothing BUT these drives in anything I built or upgraded. They're a bit pricier, and no one ever thinks about it, but the warranty on THESE hard drives, the WD Black series, is a full 5Y. VERY few other mfrs even offer a 5y warranty. And WD drives earn that warranty reputation, I haven't had a WD drive fail, EVER. In each case -- over a dozen -- they've become useless through increasing capacity, never mechanical/electronic failure. That is, I probably have an 80gig WD drive that's still functioning. It's just not worth plugging in and taking up a SATA channel when I can get that capacity on a freaking flash drive nowadays... Yes, they're that good. You can "save money" by buying something cheaper. But you'll pay in the long run with headaches from lost data, or time spent rebuilding your windows/software/os and tweaking it back to the way you had it. The HD is the soul of your machine. Everything else fails, you can practically swap a part back in and you're up and running. But the HD fails and you've got a multiday to longer term headache to get things back to "normal". And, for general purposes, they're among the best drives in performance terms, too. Tom's Hardware may rate something else marginally faster, but not by much. And not by enough to drag you away from WD Black. As the old saw goes, once you go Black, you'll never go back. :-D
384074
I'm using it as my C drive. Originally had a 500g, 120g and 160g HD's in my pc. My 500g, which was my C crashed therefore when in the market for a new HD a friend of mine suggested the SSD and also suggested using it as my C drive and use my 120g and 160g as storage. The 500g that crashed, fortunately I had a backup on the 120g and I was able to retrieve all my files (but necessary the programs but I was able to re-install) so a suggestion is to set up the Windows backup!So your thinking is not flawed for using it as the C drive. I'm thinking of getting a 1 or 2 terabyte HD for storage later down the road. I'm using it as my C drive. Originally had a 500g, 120g and 160g HD's in my pc. My 500g, which was my C crashed therefore when in the market for a new HD a friend of mine suggested the SSD and also suggested using it as my C drive and use my 120g and 160g as storage. The 500g that crashed, fortunately I had a backup on the 120g and I was able to retrieve all my files (but necessary the programs but I was able to re-install) so a suggestion is to set up the Windows backup!So your thinking is not flawed for using it as the C drive. I'm thinking of getting a 1 or 2 terabyte HD for... » Read More I'm using it as my C drive. Originally had a 500g, 120g and 160g HD's in my pc. My 500g, which was my C crashed therefore when in the market for a new HD a friend of mine suggested the SSD and also suggested using it as my C drive and use my 120g and 160g as storage. The 500g that crashed, fortunately I had a backup on the 120g and I was able to retrieve all my files (but necessary the programs but I was able to re-install) so a suggestion is to set up the Windows backup!So your thinking is not flawed for using it as the C drive. I'm thinking of getting a 1 or 2 terabyte HD for storage later down the road. « Show Less
1582895
Actually, disregard my previous response. I had this drive, but it was a 2TB model, not 3TB. There's a limit of 2.19TB for older Windows version (including Win 7) unless you have hardware that supports GPT partitioning, which I honestly don't know much about at this time. I'd recommend going with a 2TB version to be on the safe side.
1935859
Usually you don't need to back up your entire HDD, just the data and usually just the My Documents folder. And perhaps some other areas that you save data to. You can either use a backup program or just plug it in and copy/paste like you would any other location on your PC, you can also keep the flash drive plugged in and share it on your network as network storage.
517839
It only needs to be done if you want to save files over 4 GB. There may be some cases where FAT32 is preferred, such as plugging this drive into the USB port of a stand alone DVD player for avi, mp3 files,etc. They may require FAT32 like a flash drive. To format to NTFS right click the external drive under My Computer. Then hit Format.
1423746
If you purchase the diskless version, you will need to purchase and install storage for this device in the form of a standard 3.5 in. SATA internal PC hard drive. You can add up to two drives. You can attach your USB drive to this device for redundant back up of the device in case the disk(s) or system should ever fail.
1624755
i have a 30gig drive i would think if you have 500mb left on your drive you need to put some pics and songs or movies on a flash drive. the program puts it on the hard drive to compile it and then burns it to a dvd. i use 3 flash drive to store pics and movies. keeps the hard drive free.
1120024
I have a "very old" External Hard drive...not this make/model...I turn it on once/quarter to backup recent files...it's probably over 3 years old. Recently, I bought one of these WD Elite 500GB models...my plan is to backup on two externals...in case one fails. I know this seems lame, but it is the only way to ensure everything sticks around. Seems like its worth the extra $100.
576187
As commenter Super Geek suggests, if you're using a PC, then you will need to reformat it as Fat32. If you have any data on it, you will need to back it up elsewhere in order to reformat the drive for PC.
2065455
Uhh... why is this on the Lego Millennium Falcon forum?But anyway, older portable drives will usually come formatted for FAT32. Newer drives will almost always be NTFS.It is possible to reformat all hard drives. First, check with the manufacturer and often they have utilities to do this (sometimes these utilities are installed on the hard drive when you get it.l)Otherwise you will have to search the net. Note that the Windows format utility will not format large portable drives to FAT32 so you need to get a separate program to do this.Now.. back to the Millennium Falcon... Uhh... why is this on the Lego Millennium Falcon forum?But anyway, older portable drives will usually come formatted for FAT32. Newer drives will almost always be NTFS.It is possible to reformat all hard drives. First, check with the manufacturer and often they have utilities to do this (sometimes these utilities are installed on the hard drive when you get it.l)Otherwise you will have to search the net. Note that the Windows format utility will not format large portable drives to FAT32 so you need to get a separate program to do this.Now.. back to the... » Read More Uhh... why is this on the Lego Millennium Falcon forum?But anyway, older portable drives will usually come formatted for FAT32. Newer drives will almost always be NTFS.It is possible to reformat all hard drives. First, check with the manufacturer and often they have utilities to do this (sometimes these utilities are installed on the hard drive when you get it.l)Otherwise you will have to search the net. Note that the Windows format utility will not format large portable drives to FAT32 so you need to get a separate program to do this.Now.. back to the Millennium Falcon... « Show Less
280692
Hello Anthony, As Adam mentioned, most USB hard drives will allow you to transfer your files from one computer to another by transferring the external hard drive from the first computer to the second computer. I would recommend that you use the "Remove Hardware Safely" icon in the Windows Tray before removing the hard drive from your computer to make sure that the data is not corrupted, and thereby, lost. In fact, you should always use that icon, no matter what peripheral (external hard drive, portable hard drive, flash drive, etc.) you use or whether you are transferring data from one computer to another or just making a back-up copy to stay on the peripheral. I hope this is helpful - good luck! Please take care and have a great weekend!
665760
You plug it into your PC via a USB port, then it becomes a removeable drive on your PC. For windows you select computer, then the new drive. Any files you want to save you just drag onto the new drive. Also when you first plug it in you may be asked what you want to do with this drive, select open and view files, then just copy (drag and drop) onto the flash drive God Luck
1728918
When you reformat a drive all of the data will be wiped out. Always make it a practice to backup your data because sooner or later a drive could go bad.