Program for backing up the contents of my hard drive?

[Dezolat0r]

I've just recieved my lovely new External 160 GB Western Digital HD from amazon, thanks to the brilliant folks in the bargain hunter forum who linked me to it.

I want to back up most of the stuff on my computer so I can reformat the internal drive, but the problem is, and I quote from the HD manual: 'The FAT32 file system (which is what the new drive is) has a maximum file transfer of 4GB and cannot create partitions larger than 32 GB. Windows XP users can overcome these file size limitations by reformatting the drive to the NTFS file system using the Disk Management utility'

the problem is, I'm a bit useless and I have no idea how to do this! could anybody explain how? I need to do this, as I have a few files which are 4.5GB+ and it won't let me transfer them, and gives me an error instead.

also, is there any kind of program you guys can recommend to me for transferring files to the external for back up? windows XP gets really slow when i try to drag multiple folders of 20+GB size (namely music and video folders!) across to it!

hope this all makes sense, thanks in advance.

[Tomahawk]

OK first off.. to convert your Fat32 drive to NTFS (without reformatting..) then follow this guide... and it will do as you want.

Next the program I use (assuming you have XP) is the backup utility built into Windows XP called NTBACKUP.. Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup.. (or just type 'ntbackup' into run).

This has quite a few features and allows you to schedule backups, select the backup method you wish to use and of course the drives/system information/data you wish to backup..

[Dezolat0r]

okay... I typed in CONVERT G:/fs:ntfs in command prompt, now it's saying 'Enter the current volume label for drive G:'

oh dear... what next? I don't know what this means and I don't want to type the wrong thing and risk losing everything I've backed up so far!

cheers for the help so far

[Tomahawk]

okay... I typed in CONVERT G:/fs:ntfs in command prompt, now it's saying 'Enter the current volume label for drive G:'

oh dear... what next? I don't know what this means and I don't want to type the wrong thing and risk losing everything I've backed up so far!

cheers for the help so far

Well if the G: Drive has no label then simply press Enter... but it may currently have a name/label assigned to the drive.

[Dezolat0r]

Brilliant, converted the hard drive to NTFS and I'm in the process of backing everything up to the external drive now! thanks very much for your help, I'll get back to you if I have any more problems, which I undoubtably will. Much appreciated

[Dezolat0r]

I have another problem... I've backed everything up to my USB external drive, and now I want to reformat my PC. I'm supposed to unplug all USB devices before I do this, but when click 'stop' on the safely remove hardware menu, I get a message saying 'The device 'Generic volume' cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later'.

How can I let it safely remove my USB drive?!

Hope this makes sense, thanks.

[directhex]

ensure there are no open files on the external drive - you can't eject it if any files are in use.

[notsobig]

I think this is XP bug, it happens to me all the time too. Whenever I get this error message I just reboot my puter and try again.

[Dezolat0r]

Okay, ironically enough, I seem to be experiencing the exact opposite problem as I was earlier...

I rebooted my computer, now I have my hard drive plugged in but my computer is not recognizing it! On the 'my computer' screen it doesn't come up as one of the devices plugged in. What's going on now?! cheers and sorry for the constant questions.

EDIT: never mind, scratch that, I did a system restore and it seems to have detected it again now. However, it still won't let me eject the drive, even when I restart the computer. Any idea how else I could fix this?

[blueball]

If it doesn't work the first time just try again to dismount it. TBH I never bother. I know if I'm transferring files to mmy backup disk and if I'm not then I just pull the USB cable out (or power off the external drive)

[Tomahawk]

Okay, ironically enough, I seem to be experiencing the exact opposite problem as I was earlier...

I rebooted my computer, now I have my hard drive plugged in but my computer is not recognizing it! On the 'my computer' screen it doesn't come up as one of the devices plugged in. What's going on now?! cheers and sorry for the constant questions.

EDIT: never mind, scratch that, I did a system restore and it seems to have detected it again now. However, it still won't let me eject the drive, even when I restart the computer. Any idea how else I could fix this?

You sure that the drive is still not being accessed in some way?.. Like files/data being read/written to the drive at the time at which you're trying to eject it..?

[Dezolat0r]

You sure that the drive is still not being accessed in some way?.. Like files/data being read/written to the drive at the time at which you're trying to eject it..?

Yes, I'm pretty sure. I rebooted the computer and immediately tried to eject the drive (before it could be accessed in any way, at least that I know of), and I still got the error.

Anyway, never mind, it's not an immediate problem thanks

Now, does anybody have a guide on formatting and reinstalling windows on a computer?

[Tomahawk]

Yes, I'm pretty sure. I rebooted the computer and immediately tried to eject the drive (before it could be accessed in any way, at least that I know of), and I still got the error.

Anyway, never mind, it's not an immediate problem thanks

Now, does anybody have a guide on formatting and reinstalling windows on a computer?

Here's one, (haven't used it myself.. but seems like its pretty good step-by-step.) also if you look on Google here.. there are tons of guides.