How to Backup Hard Drive to External Hard Drive

It is not only critical to learn how to back up your computer on an external hard drive, it is also pretty easy. We have a professional service that can retrieve data from a damaged external hard drive if you should run into any problems. That means that you can figure out how to transfer files to external hard drive media on your own and not worry about losing your information.

Learning how to back up your computer to an external hard drive is a critical task.

Steps to Backing Data to an External Hard Drive

Buy Yourself an External Hard Drive

It is always best to make purchases that will allow you to get the best value for your money. If you purchase an external hard drive that has the same capacity as your computer's internal hard drive, then you can mirror your internal hard drive to your external drive no matter how much data you have on it. If you really want to be proactive, then you may want to consider getting an external drive with twice the capacity of your internal drive so that you can do multiple backups if necessary.

Check out online retailers to get a free quote on the best USB external hard drives for PCs and Macs. Do some comparison shopping and make sure that you get a unit with a good warranty and a strong reputation for quality.

Turn on Your Computer

The USB technology on your external hard drive is compatible with the USB port on your computer. Unless the instructions on your external drive say differently, it is best to turn the computer on first and then plug in your external drive.

Follow Your Operating System Prompt

Both the Mac and PC operating systems will automatically recognize your USB external drive as being an external drive. Since you are connecting an external drive, your computer will ask you if you want to use the external drive as a backup device. Once you indicate that you are indeed connecting a backup drive, the computer will then take you through the entire process. It really is that simple.

Your operating system will allow you to choose particular files to back up, or ask if you just want to mirror the entire drive. When you are first learning how to transfer files to external hard drive media, it is best to just mirror the entire drive. After that first backup, you can choose to either mirror the drive again, or only back up files that have been changed.

Troubleshooting

What do you do if your operating system does not walk you through the back up process? One option is to restart your computer and try again. If you have Windows and you do not get the backup prompt, then pull up the Start Menu search box and type "backup." You can then click on Backup, Restore, and then choose your USB external drive.

If you have a Mac and you do not get the backup prompt, then simply go to the Time Machine option and click on "Select Backup Disk." The Mac will ask you which drive to use as the backup drive, and that is when you choose your external hard drive.

If you start having problems retrieving your data from your external or internal hard drive, then just call one of our certified experts for assistance.

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If you’re experiencing data loss, don’t hesitate to reach out to us right now.

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