sunspots2002 Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 I have been using Retrospect for about 2 years (off and on). The backup procedure falls over with me, as it is a time consuming activity as I use CDRW for backup. I have to laptops each with Win XP Prof (one with SP1 & the other with SP2). Each using about 10Gigs of their respective drives. My backup policy was to only backup the important data (ie documents, and the like) but want to be more comprehensive and do the whole drive. Except using CDRW you can only fit 700Megs per CDRW. I did look at buying a DVDRW (HP in particular) but it didn't seem to be recommended for USB1 connections. I'm interested in hearing about what others do and the devices that are used. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyJohn Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 I am using an internal ATAPI Iomega REV drive. So far it is the best backup device I used. And the fastest too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaikow Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Quote: I have been using Retrospect for about 2 years (off and on). The backup procedure falls over with me, as it is a time consuming activity as I use CDRW for backup. I have to laptops each with Win XP Prof (one with SP1 & the other with SP2). Each using about 10Gigs of their respective drives. My backup policy was to only backup the important data (ie documents, and the like) but want to be more comprehensive and do the whole drive. Except using CDRW you can only fit 700Megs per CDRW. I did look at buying a DVDRW (HP in particular) but it didn't seem to be recommended for USB1 connections. I'm interested in hearing about what others do and the devices that are used. Thanks External USB hard drives. Make sure your system supports USB 2, if not, also buy a USB 2 card. USB 1.1 is too slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaHen Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Been using a Maxtor external HD here (USB 2.0) . Much better then sitting around loading CD's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunspots2002 Posted November 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately both computers are laptops and with USB1. Also the PCMCIA slots on both are used with networking cards. Either way, I'll still look into external drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaHen Posted November 7, 2004 Report Share Posted November 7, 2004 Check the small print on the package or web site for one of todays external HDs. Such as my ACOMData external HD which can be used for either FireWire & Hi Speed USB 2.0: It states that "you can connect the drive to a USB 1.0 port, however; the drive will operate at significantly lower speeds". Think this is referred to as "backward compatible". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaikow Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Quote: Check the small print on the package or web site for one of todays external HDs. Such as my ACOMData external HD which can be used for either FireWire & Hi Speed USB 2.0: It states that "you can connect the drive to a USB 1.0 port, however; the drive will operate at significantly lower speeds". Think this is referred to as "backward compatible". Do NOT use a hard drive with USB 1, it is way too slow. If there is a slot, add a USB 2 card to the notebook, or replace, if any, its separate USB 1 card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaikow Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Quote: Quote: Check the small print on the package or web site for one of todays external HDs. Such as my ACOMData external HD which can be used for either FireWire & Hi Speed USB 2.0: It states that "you can connect the drive to a USB 1.0 port, however; the drive will operate at significantly lower speeds". Think this is referred to as "backward compatible". Do NOT use a hard drive with USB 1, it is way too slow. If there is a slot, add a USB 2 card to the notebook, or replace, if any, its separate USB 1 card. Ooops, I see that you have no available card slots. I don't know how often you do backups, or how easy it is to change cards, but you could swap one of the cards for a USB 2 card each time you do a backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvsurfer Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 In your situation, I would buy a USB2/Firewire PCMCIA card. You don't need the network connection to do a local backup on your notebooks, so you could easily remove the network card and insert the USB2/Firewire card into each notebook whenever you want to backup to an external USB2 or Firewire hard-drive! Btw, PCMCIA cards are available as USB2 only, Firewire only, or as a combo of both. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunspots2002 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 I currently have Retrospect on one laptop and it backs up both laptops. So, I need the network card or I use a cable to connect the two. Or purchase a USB wireless network card. Tried looking on the net for a PCMCIA expansion card, but no luck. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvsurfer Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Why not install Retrospect on each laptop, buy one USB2/Firewire PCMCIA card and one external USB2/Firewire hard-drive (these can be shared between your laptops). Then you could back-up each of them to the external drive which you can store in a safe place. That way, if anything happens (e.g., theft, damage) to either laptop, you have a backup of your important 'stuff' in a safe place. Here's a combo card for $33 from Newegg (a very reliable dealer)... http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=15-121-001&ATT=PC+Cards+PCMCIA+Add+&CMP=KNC-goog13 Btw, they have USB2-only cards for under $20 (as well as the external drives)! ~pv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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