Completed. How to transfer info from an external Hard Drive to Windows 7 please?

[LoneyBones]

Hi Barbara (and others)
Something to keep an eye on when backing up to an external hard drive; Is your back up just your most recent work or is it the whole file?
I have two external hard drives, the older one isn't huge and I noticed ti was almost full, so I checked what was on it. Two of my programs, Legacy was the worst offender, were backing up the whole file every time I did a back up. When I looked, I had about a hundred copies backed up. Some days I might have only added a couple of names or a few new dates, but every time Legacy backs up it does the whole family file. Another huge file was my FH photos, taking up heaps of space.
I now make sure I delete the last copy before I do a back up of my day's work.
Leonie.

[Nick29]

Lots of backup software allows the use of 'incremental backups' where files are backed up only once, and after that only new or changed files are backed up.   

[LoneyBones]

Well, I'm going to have to get a new external hard drive soon, so I'll keep an eye out for that type. Anything to make life simpler. 
By the way, I also keep one of them in my handbag when I leave the house. Just in case of fire or theft. I'm not paranoid, honest I'm not.   

[Nick29]

Not too bad an idea really.  Most of us have insurance, but some photos are irreplaceable, aren't they.

A good way of providing 'off site' backups is to use Dropbox, or maybe even the free web space provided by ISPs 

[Redroger]

I have recently installed a WD 1tb disk which backs up continually and automatically, this additional to my files which I have synced to a cloud site, and other periodic backups I take.

[downside]

I have recently installed a WD 1tb disk which backs up continually and automatically

Surely it would be easier to have a RAID system?

Are you running some kind of mission critical operation in your garden shed? 

[Redroger]

All I run in my shed is a model railway. The shed which became involved in this thread is my wife's gardening shed, which had 4 legged visitors, who I have eliminated.