Picture & File Media Storage Question

[Mike]

My PC is not running to optimal speed and I have determined that I am nearing the capacity of my Hard Drive. I have an older PC, a 2004 HP that suits me fine but it is just getting a little slow from time to time. I have all the virus, malware and adware removed and it is all clean.

I have less than 10% storage available and I am pretty sure that is my problem. I have a lot of pictures from over the years and I want to keep them all as they document the last 6 years of my boys lives, vacations, events and the like. Of the massive amount of data, I would say that 75% is pictures and the remainder is personal Word or Excel files.

I would like to remove the files and start fresh but I want to be sure that I retain the files. I have most of it backed up on a few thumb drives but I am hesitant to delete the files from my PC just because I am scared the thumb drives might fail. I think that putting them onto CD's might take forever. I would say I am in the range of 4,000 pictures, maybe more?

Any ideas?

[red]

Get an external USB hard drive. Typically a solid state drive such as your thumb drives will last far longer than a hard drive hat has platters or discs spinning inside them which are prone to physical and mechanical failure. I've left a thumb drive in a pocket twice when ran through a washer and dryer and it's still working perfectly.

[Casey]

First of all, get all the ones that really mean something and you know you'll want forever and print them. Nothing will stand the test of time like ink on paper. That's a proven fact.

Then, get the external drive like red suggests. Once you get everything you really want to keep on it, get another and back it up. Replace them every year to 18 months so you won't walk in someday to find them unresponsive.

[AndyTX]

Be aware flash drives do have a write cycle life to them. I've had some fail for no apparent reason. I've washed some and they continue to work like stated above. What you want to do is have your data in no less than two places. One would be your computer, the other flash drives, external drives, CDs, or whatever. Once you delete data on your computer, then you are back to having your data on one device. Be careful. Another option is to look into an online backup service like moxy or carbonite where they have redundant systems in place to protect your data.

[scotty]

One of your backups need to be off site in case of fire. This can be either a portable hard drive or a service like Carbonite. My wife keeps my backup drive at her office. It comes home once a month for updates.

[TexaswBOWhunter]

Couple times a year I make copies of all my media files to CD... I also store all my media files on a external hard drive and they do give out on you for no apparent reason.....

[WoJo]

Carbonite!!!! Love it. It will take a few days to get a complete backup if you have a lot of files (I have 40gb) once it is there it is safe and you can get it on any pc.

www.carbonite.com

[jlptexashunter]

picasaweb.google.com

download and it will sync with folders you want it to sync with.