Portable Hard Drive advice please!

[Vader182]

So I have a old desktop PC and a newish laptop. The desktop is running XP and the laptop has Vista Business on it. Dont really want to change either of the Operating Systems if I can help it!

Now, if I get a portable hard drive, should I get a 2.5 inch one or a 3.5 inch one? Whats the difference? And will it be possible to move files between the two computers easily?

I really want the portable drive to back up the drives on the two computers, is this possible with them having different OS?

Sorry for the silly question but Im a duffer on this sort of thing, and searching the net has not helped!!

Cheers.

 

[Revels]

Perfectly possible.

As you have a laptop just get a 2.5" passport drive. You can get a 1TB for abour £130. It's usb powered. Just plug it in to whichever computer needs the files.

Simples.

 

[Vader182]

Cheers Revels, thanks for that.

 

[richy22]

If size wasnt an issue You can buy 1TB external drives for £65 on Amazon

 

[Vader182]

Cheers richy22, just having a look now....Ive heard Western Digital are best ones, any others??

 

[richy22]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00238KZPM/?tag=cliospnet01-21

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002C46042/?tag=cliospnet01-21

Seem to have good reviews as well

 

[Jungle_Jim]

ive got a seagate one (although its only a 120gb one) but ive had it for about 3 years and ive never had any problems with it

 

[Vader182]

Thanks all!!

 

[zark]

i went for a NAS network storage thingummy... Hard drive in a box plugged into the wireless router... the laptops and desktop machine all use it as a network drive and can read files from and to it over the wifi... Saves swapping a usb drive between machines, and can just be tucked away and forgotten about...

Something like This

 

[James172Cup]

i went for a NAS network storage thingummy... Hard drive in a box plugged into the wireless router... the laptops and desktop machine all use it as a network drive and can read files from and to it over the wifi... Saves swapping a usb drive between machines, and can just be tucked away and forgotten about...

Something like This

With these network drives, can i access files remotely? Say if i was at my folks place across town, could i access the data on NAS drive at home?

 

[David]

i just got one of the new wd se ones. 1tb, usb powered, which the above are not. it's awesome.

 

[Blighty]

Like everyone has already said, go for a 2.5" usb (bus) powered external. I have a 500gb Western Digital My Passport and i love it. Never had a problem and is so portable!

 

[Magic Johnson]

With these network drives, can i access files remotely? Say if i was at my folks place across town, could i access the data on NAS drive at home?

Only over a VPN.