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On Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:32:10 +0000 NW wrote: > I am wondering about using an external hard drive as back up to my > hard drive. I have never used one so I am wondering if it is a good > idea. > > Also, any recommendations about which make? And do they come ready > formatted and if so which format? would it be sensible to format it to > say Ext4? > > Thanks for any pointers. > > Neil Kinda depends on what you want to use it for. Most (but not all) external hard-drives (ie those that are marketed and sold as such) will come pre-formatted as FAT32 so they can be used in the widest set of computers without any issues. There's nothing stopping you from using one of the FDISK tools (GUI or CLI) to change the filesystem type to EXT2/3 and then format it as such. If you're buying an enclosure and an internal hard-drive to put in it, then the hard-drive may be pre-formatted, but usually they aren't. As for backing-up - use whatever tool suits you best. If you merely wish to perform a duplicate of a particular directory onto said external hard-drive, then rsync (as has been mentioned previously) does the job nicely. Grant. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq