computer questionS

Just downloaded the app and ran it, nicky.
I can only assume it will improve things.
Thanks for the advice.

I've got a Firewire hard drive.

It transfers 1GB per minute which is quite fast. I think USB 2.0 usually transfers 1GB in perhaps five minutes at best.

There is software that backs up for you but basically for a full backup just copy and paste your my documents folder to the external drive.

Its also a good idea to keep a backup of programs and drivers that you use in case you ever need to format or anything gets corrupted.

PS my Firewire hard drive only cost ~$150 and its 320GB. I recommend Firewire.

I take it you have a Mac.
I have an iBook, but my desktop is a Compaq PC.

In truth, I have astonishingly little in the way of data. I've saved almost all of that to USB thumb drives ... you know, the little doowinkies [AKA whatchamacallits, SLB] that don't seem to last very long. But I'm still able to read off them.
I do have some vids and music files, and those could easily be transferred.

Wouldn't this be a good reason to do a full backup with Ghost or some similar program?
I just priced the Ghost software and I can get it for 60 bucks. I'm tempted.
But really, I also looked at computers, and for 400 smackeroos (204 quid, moy deuh fellow), I can get a new Compaq with a duo-core processor, a gig of RAM (maybe worth upping to two?), and a 250-gig HD.
How are the manufacturers making money these days?

They make money on cheap parts and labour...

I'm on Windows too, you can get a Firewire PCI card that plugs into your PC.

Also I had foolishly assumed you were a porn connoisseur. How wrong I was...

I have 103GB used up on my Firewire drive although a lot of it is music and videos of the non-porn variety.

But for what you're using it for a store-bought PC should be okay.

I suppose you could use the Ghost Software but my way of doing things is different. I just back up My Documents and add anything new that comes in to the Firewire HD. And I have loads of programs. Even ones that are now Shareware such as amcap, I have the old, free version.

But whatever works for you

Interesting. What does it cost?

Hmmm.
* rubs chin *
Wellll, I look at a lot, but don't download that much. Maybe that makes me a real connoisseur.

Sure, sure, baby. Anything you say.

Well, aren't almost all of them well beyond any normal (heh heh) consumer's needs? (I'm just sayin' ... have no idea.)

I have my OS disks and a few others. (Also MS Office, so I can reload a lot of programs.)
When I think about it, I'm not strapped.
But having an exact image of my HD on the external would give me a comfort margin if, as you say, things got corrupted.

I use Firewire to transfer video from my Camcorder to my PC. What sucks is that the camcorder I bought a few months ago did not have the wire and I had to get one at Radio Shack for $32.

Don't forget to run a disk de-frag after removing all those files to improve HD performance.