HD enclosure and then use new drive?

[Louise]

Using Win XP and a Seagate Barracuda on a Dell 8200.

I backup daily to a Buslink USB drive using Dantz
Retrospect. Every week or two it runs out of space and I
have to start again with a fresh backup - which is ok, as
long as I don't discover after the fact that I have a virus
or something like that.

I am thinking about creating a second backup system. If I
purchase a regular hard drive such as another Seagate or a
WD, and then I purchase a USB enclosure for the drive,
would I be able to clone my present drive to the new one in
the USB enclosure and then simply swap drives?

In other words, I clone my present drive to one that is in
a USB enclosure. I imagine using True Image or Ghost - or
Dantz if they can do it.

Then, should my hard drive fail, I disconnect the old
drive, remove the backup drive from its USB enclosure, plug
it into the system and I'm up and running?

Would this really work? If not, what's the closest I can
come to it?

TIA

Louise

 

[Rod Speed]

Using Win XP and a Seagate Barracuda on a Dell 8200.

I backup daily to a Buslink USB drive using Dantz Retrospect.
Every week or two it runs out of space and I have to start
again with a fresh backup - which is ok, as long as I don't
discover after the fact that I have a virus or something like that.

I am thinking about creating a second backup system.
If I purchase a regular hard drive such as another Seagate
or a WD, and then I purchase a USB enclosure for the drive,
would I be able to clone my present drive to the new one in
the USB enclosure and then simply swap drives?

Yes, with most USB enclosures.

In other words, I clone my present drive to one
that is in a USB enclosure. I imagine using True
Image or Ghost - or Dantz if they can do it.

Then, should my hard drive fail, I disconnect the old
drive, remove the backup drive from its USB enclosure,
plug it into the system and I'm up and running?

Would this really work?

Yes, with most USB enclosures.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Using Win XP and a Seagate Barracuda on a Dell 8200.

I backup daily to a Buslink USB drive using Dantz
Retrospect. Every week or two it runs out of space and I
have to start again with a fresh backup - which is ok, as
long as I don't discover after the fact that I have a virus
or something like that.

I am thinking about creating a second backup system. If I
purchase a regular hard drive such as another Seagate or a
WD, and then I purchase a USB enclosure for the drive,
would I be able to clone my present drive to the new one in
the USB enclosure and then simply swap drives?

In other words, I clone my present drive to one that is in
a USB enclosure. I imagine using True Image or Ghost - or
Dantz if they can do it.

Then, should my hard drive fail, I disconnect the old
drive, remove the backup drive from its USB enclosure, plug
it into the system and I'm up and running?

Would this really work? If not, what's the closest I can
come to it?

Have you considered using an IDE drive in a removable
"caddy" or "drawer"? You can store the caddy elsewhere
for safety, and just plug it into the bay (installed in a spare
5 1/4" accessory slot) when you want to do backups or
restores. In case of total main drive meltdown, you can
take the backup HD out of the caddy and put it in the
main HD position or set the BIOS to look at the removable
HD as a boot drive and boot from the caddy. All this
presupposes that you have a spare ATA position on the
motherboard or on a PCI ATA controller card.


*TimDaniels*

 

[Rod Speed]

Have you considered using an IDE drive in a removable
"caddy" or "drawer"? You can store the caddy elsewhere
for safety, and just plug it into the bay (installed in a spare
5 1/4" accessory slot) when you want to do backups or
restores. In case of total main drive meltdown, you can
take the backup HD out of the caddy and put it in the
main HD position or set the BIOS to look at the removable
HD as a boot drive and boot from the caddy. All this
presupposes that you have a spare ATA position on the
motherboard or on a PCI ATA controller card.

And dont mind that its a hell of a kludge compared
with using a proper external drive housing that
adheres to the formal standard for that interface.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

"Rod Speed" commented:

And dont mind that its a hell of a kludge compared
with using a proper external drive housing that
adheres to the formal standard for that interface.

Removable caddys have the standard IDE/ATA interface
that all internal hard drives have. No cables extend outside
the case, and even the internal cable length remains that
specified for IDE. The student computer labs at the state
university all use this method to allow each student use of a
dedicated hard drive over the duration of a course. When a
class ends, and before the beginning of the next class, the
caddys are simply switched, and the next student using the
PC gets his assigned hard drive. Possibly because the HDs
spin at 5400 rpm, no extra cooling is needed, and the draft
sucked in through a front vent past the HD provides all the
cooling air flow needed. The HDs are 20GB Maxtors, and
the lab technician reports no problems with them.


*TimDaniels*

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote
Timothy Daniels wrote

Removable caddys have the standard IDE/ATA
interface that all internal hard drives have.

Nope. The entire string between the motherboard ribbon cable
connector and the drive ribbon connector is nothing like standard.

No cables extend outside the case,

Completely irrelevant.

and even the internal cable length remains that specified for IDE.

Pity about the extra connector.

The student computer labs at the state university all
use this method to allow each student use of a dedicated
hard drive over the duration of a course. When a class
ends, and before the beginning of the next class, the
caddys are simply switched, and the next student
using the PC gets his assigned hard drive.

Yes, plenty use those kludges.

And plenty have found with rigorous testing that those kludge
dont perform anything like as well as a standard ATA ribbon
cable between the motherboard connector and the drive.

Possibly because the HDs spin at 5400 rpm,

And arent likely to be high performance drives.

Its quite hard to find any 5400 rpm drives for sale now.

no extra cooling is needed, and the draft sucked in through a
front vent past the HD provides all the cooling air flow needed.
Sure.

The HDs are 20GB Maxtors,

And arent exactly what you might call high performance drives.

and the lab technician reports no problems with them.

Completely irrelevant to whether they flout the ATA
standard and particularly with the cheaper ones, can
be measurably worse than a standard ATA cable
between the drive and the motherboard connector.

 

[Louise]

Have you considered using an IDE drive in a removable
"caddy" or "drawer"? You can store the caddy elsewhere
for safety, and just plug it into the bay (installed in a spare
5 1/4" accessory slot) when you want to do backups or
restores. In case of total main drive meltdown, you can
take the backup HD out of the caddy and put it in the
main HD position or set the BIOS to look at the removable
HD as a boot drive and boot from the caddy. All this
presupposes that you have a spare ATA position on the
motherboard or on a PCI ATA controller card.


*TimDaniels*

I'm afraid I don't have a spare slot. I have a Dell
Dimension and everything is cramped. The two front slots
have a CDRW and a CD/DVD.

Louise

 

[Louise]

Yes, with most USB enclosures.




Yes, with most USB enclosures.

Do you have any suggestions as to which USB enclosures I
could count on and which are less likely to work?

TIA

Louise

 

[Timothy Daniels]

And arent exactly what you might call high performance drives.

They're a lot higher performance than USB drives - the drives
under discussion.


*TimDaniels*

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed (e-mail address removed) wrote

Do you have any suggestions as to which USB enclosures
I could count on and which are less likely to work?

Fraid not. In fact enclosures where you cant move the drive
inside the PC and still boot off it that would be the exception.

I'd just buy something that appeals on other stuff like fans
and having a metal case and not plastic for good drive
cooling, and return it if you try it and find it cant do that.

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote about 5400 rpm 20GB Maxtors:

They're a lot higher performance than
USB drives - the drives under discussion.

Bullshit.

And you are welcome to use a firewire drive if you want performance anyway.