I’m not the best at being organized, but I hate a cluttered computer. I hate having things on my hard drives. I want it gone. I want a clean computer.
You know you need back ups. We all do. But we also need space on the computer. So here’s the quick tip from me for today.
Drag your WoW game, your ripped copies of movies and music you have CDs for, etc., and put them all on your external hard drive. I got the Verbatim hard drive from a PR rep, and all I can say is… it’s so small. Small. But with over 300 gigs of space. They have a bigger one for 500 gigs. With WoW or other games running off of the external hard drive, you get at least 20 gigs of space free on your main drive. I think I just purged 40 gigs of games off of my hard drive onto the Verbatim, and the games still run smooth.
Copy files you only have digital copies of into three ways. Frequent, Back Up and Never Used. You know those old files you never look at any more, but hang on to? Save that to your external storage space, and to a couple of burned CDs (or release into the cloud).
If you use it frequently (at least once a month) store it locally and put it on your current backup drive.
Update your Never Used spaces if you use something and then stop. Drop it into an “Empty” folder and then once a week empty it onto your back up and never used files. You can schedule your computer to do this automatically. (Yes, people talk about it, and never do it, but it takes thirty minutes.
File, file, file. This isn’t your filing cabinet, with marker-ed up reused files and limited space. This is the magical world of tech and Internet. Write your files with really long labels. Rename it when you’re done. Move them where you want.
Remember, if you only have one copy on your back up hard drive, then it isn’t a back up. Duplicate it.
Is there a better method? What’s yours?
I am a huge supporter of external HD use (using a trio of Western Digital drives, myself: 160gig, 320gig, and 1tb versions… and yes, the 1tb is nothing but wrestling. And the collection still grows.)
However, the only thing I see as not being a good idea is putting anything other than small games/programs that are self-inclusive that don’t make registry changes on an external. (Unless you keep your externals hooked to the same comp 24/7, and even then, there’s issues, as explained below.)
The main reason I am suggesting being against that is because, once again, is registry issues. PLUS, if your system doesn’t have the highest amount of processing speed or RAM, the program -WILL- run at much slower speeds due to the comp having to transfer files from external locations, save space in RAM, and all in all, basically reaching around your back to get to your face. All in all, you end up using a lot more resources to run your .exe’s off the external than you do your main system.
((HOWEVER, the only exceptions I can figure would be small self-inclusive programs with no extra files {like small card games, old wrestling business simulators, etc.}, and emergenct system repair/assistance programs {CCcleaner for instance}.))
ya, thanks – a very helpful post!