Backing up to a sandisk 8 gb cruzer part 1

linnemeyerhere

I have been writing before in a different forum that had kind of died out. I just bought a Cruzer Blade USB flash drive, 8 gb, to back up my computer - windows 7.
It still doesn't like it. I cannot get an external hard drive and this wasn't that expensive. It says to please insert a d/dvd/or usb drive. Well I did that and it gives me an error to insert a dvd. Why wouldln't I be able to back up on an 8 gb back drive.
All I want to back up is my data anyway and not sure how to get just that.

Tepid

The computer see's the inserted usb drive correct? Remember what drive letter it's assigned and copy and paste the data you want directly to it, if needed create a folder in the usb for the data.

whs

I personally do not ever recommend flash drives as a backup medium.
They are not reliable. They have a life span and do go bad.
External Hard Drives are always highly preferred.

However,,, what application are you trying to use to run a back up?
If you are using Windows Back up, it may not like backing up to a Flash Drive,
They are seen as Removable Media. I am not completely familiar with Windows Backup so can not say for sure.
But if that is the case, then the flash drive may not work. Or it may be too small?

The other option is drag and drop

whs

I have made images to USB sticks using Macrium. Provided the stick can hold the image (which is a bit more than 50% of the data you want to image), it will work.

Guest

I put the usb in and go to computers and it doesn't even show up there that I have a usb drive in. I tried a DVD and it worked, but I would much prefer to use a usb. When you say which application am I using. I just put in the usb,, go to my "pictures" and tried to drag and drop except there was nothing there.. So I don't know if I used a program.

Guest

It is an 8 gb usb

Guest

linnem - when I go to computer is does not recognize a usb

Guest

Open the start menu, right click on computer, then manage, then disk management. Do you see 8GB of unallocated space?

Guest

That is strange. Normally it would first install the driver (you see a ballon on the bottom right) and then Autoplay should come up. Did you tra another USB port?

PS: The advantage if you image the data is that it gets compressed and you can fit appr. twice as much data.

Guest

yes parabellum I saw the 8 gb of unallocated space.
I was just trying to drag my documents which are 3 gb onto this usb and it says it will take 22 hours?????

whs

Right click the unallocated space before you copy anything and allocate a drive letter that is available - E:\ or G:\ or anything, then in Windows Explorer, right click the USB and select format. Quick format it to NTFS.

James Colbert

I looked at some pictures that must have copies and they are all coming through my adobe photoshop elements.
This is too complicated for me. Can we pick this up tomorrow or should I just get a bunch of DVD's?

whs

should I just use dvd's and pick this up again Monday?

Guest

The USB should work fine. I don't think DVD's are a good idea, you can damage them too easily although DL do fit over 8GB in terms of space; the choice is yours.

Guest

Well, the USB stick should work unless it is defetive or there is a problem with the USB port. As to the pictures showing with photoshop: I assume they are .jpg or .png. Then that is a simple assoiation problem which you can change to any other program.

PS: have a look in Device Manager whether there are any yellow triangles next to the USB Controllers.

Guest

no yellow triangles. Now that I have the USB working. What is the simplest way to get the info over there. Now when I want to back up pictures again in 6 months, do I use the same usb or put it on a new one? Thanks so much.

Guest

can you continue to add documents, banking stuff, etc on this usb until it is full or do you have to have a separate one for each data?

Guest

You can add stuff until it is full. I'd separate it into folders. Now you need a backup program that supports incremental updates.

Guest

As mentioned earlier in the thread, using flash memory as your only backup is risky if your files are important. It may be simpler and faster, but it's not as reliable as optical disc or HD. It's good that you are committed to backup, but if DVD is not optimal, an external drive is your best bet, albeit at a higher cost (but quite reasonable these days). If the budget can stand $70-$100, you can get an external USB 2.0 drive and use (free) sync toy (or included software) and have a reliable, fast and likely (for your current needs) bottomless backup option.

Here are a few:
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!

James

Guest

I am not so negative about the USB sticks. I have more than a dozen of those from 2 GB to 16GB and none has ever failed. In fact, on runs a slideshow on my sidebarsince 3 years 12 hours per day and is still working.

What I suggest is that you create folders on the stick for the various subjects (pictures, banking, etc) and fill it up until it is full. This is not a CD or DVD where you cannot add once it is burnt. It is like a disk where you can keep adding until full.

whs

How do I create folders on the disk and how can it take 22 hrs to copy just 3 gb of documents. There are only about 12 things in teh file. Thanks you guys, you have been great. And I also need a backup program that supports incremental updates - can you explain to me what that is?

whs

For the first one, right click then new folder, for the last look here:

Best Free Backup Program

For the file transfer, it depends on the file but it shouldn't take that long. Does the time eventually reduce?

whs

1. To create a folder you right click on the stick (in the left pane of Explorer), go to New > Folder. Then give it a name.

2. The 22 hours is unreal. Check the File System of the drive (in Properties) . It should be Fat32. I wonder also whether the ports are running on USB 1.1. in lieu of USB 2.0. But that is not easy to find out unless you get a message that the stick would perform faster in USB 2.0. Anything with USB ports is messy - since ages.

3. Incremental or differential backups are typically used by imaging programs. Free Paragon would be a candidate. The imaging has the added advantage that it compresses the data and thus uses less space.

James Colbert

I think stuff is getting backed up on the drive - finally - but how do I create folders. Thanks so much

Guest

Either as WHS suggested or right click and select new -> folder when a file or folder isn't selected.

Guest

I could not just do a regular backup with my usb. So I just put it in and just dragged the info I was interested in into it. Can anyone tell me why "documents" took forever and so much space? I just wanted my letters and there are hardly in there.

Guest

You are doing something wrong. The dragging technique is not the way of proper operation. It can give you all kinds of results. Use this: Context Menu - Add Copy To Folder and Move To Folder Then you know that you get a proper result.

Also, is your USB stick formatted in Fat32? If not, format it to Fat32 (quick format). NTFS on sticks is a lot slower and wears the stick a lot more.

Guest

Thank you for every thing you said, but I have no idea what you said. I did not drag the information like I said I did, I right clicked and sent to usb drive.

Guest

�� Quote: Originally Posted by PattiChati

Thank you for every thing you said, but I have no idea what you said. I did not drag the information like I said I did, I right clicked and sent to usb drive.

OK, that clarifies that one. "Send to" is a copy operation and should work.

If it takes very long, it could be only because your stick is very slow (and many cheap sticks have a dismal transfer rate which you can test with HD Tune), and/or the stick is formatted in NTFS (which you will see in Properties of the stick).

Guest

If your budget isn't too tight, here's a very reasonably priced 8GB stick that has a 'speed class rating' of 200x. I don't know what that translates too in real world write speed, but I have a few, and copies are much, much faster than my Cruzer. 5 star rating with 1200 reviewers (you should be able to find some write speeds in the user reviews). It's $18.

James

Edit:

Sorry, forgot link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220252

whs

�� Quote: Originally Posted by James Colbert

If your budget isn't too tight, here's a very reasonably priced 8GB stick that has a 'speed class rating' of 200x. I don't know what that translates too in real world write speed, but I have a few, and copies are much, much faster than my Cruzer. 5 star rating with 1200 reviewers (you should be able to find some write speeds in the user reviews). It's $18.

James

James, you forgot the link.

James Colbert

�� Quote: Originally Posted by whs

�� Quote: Originally Posted by James Colbert

If your budget isn't too tight, here's a very reasonably priced 8GB stick that has a 'speed class rating' of 200x. I don't know what that translates too in real world write speed, but I have a few, and copies are much, much faster than my Cruzer. 5 star rating with 1200 reviewers (you should be able to find some write speeds in the user reviews). It's $18.

James

James, you forgot the link.

I surely did. Thanks, whs.

Here's the link (also ammended in the original post):

Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB

James

whs

Thanks for the link I really don't know what 200x means. I always go back to a German big mail order house (similar to Newegg). There they always show the Read/Write speeds. I really wonder why the US sites cannot do that. In Germany they would not do a lot of business. People want to know what they are buing. I even called Newegg for the data. They told me that they are just a distributer and have no technical data.

James Colbert

�� Quote: Originally Posted by whs

Thanks for the link I really don't know what 200x means. I always go back to a German big mail order house (similar to Newegg). There they always show the Read/Write speeds. I really wonder why the US sites cannot do that. In Germany they would not do a lot of business. People want to know what they are buing. I even called Newegg for the data. They told me that they are just a distributer and have no technical data.

Thanks for the heads up...as for the 200x, Patriot interprets that as 30mbps read speed, as can be seen here:

Patriot Memory - Products

They don't really specify write speed , but here's a screenshot of a Newegg review that states 20 mbps write. There are likely more peppered throughout the reviews.




I will say that these keys out-perform any I've had to date.

James

whs

Well, 30/20 is not bad. Many I have seen are more like 15/8. Best is to test it with HD Tune. Select the right drive and let it run to the end (takes a couple of minutes). Then you get the access time too. Then run your HDD and compare. The stick should be faster in access time (like 1ms versus 15ms) but slower in read/write.

whs

I am confused, what happened to my original question of the usb cruzer not backing up. Windows will back up for a while and then quit. What I am doing now is every couple of days just "send to external drive". Hope that is going to work.

Tepid

Remind me - what program are you using for the backup?

whs

Again, I want to reiterate that USB Flash Drives are not optimal for backing up data, especially large amounts of data.
Flash Drives should be viewed in the same light as Floppy Disks.
Good for transporting data, bad for storage.

Yes, your millage may vary. But, still not as good an idea as a USB Hard Drive.

Also, USB HDD's have much faster transfer rates than a lot of USB Flash Drives.
Yes, they have gotten better. But, some are quite expensive.
When you can get a 320G External USB Drive for around 70$?
That is the better deal. Especially in the long run.

Guest

�� Quote: Originally Posted by whs

Remind me - what program are you using for the backup?

I am just putting in the usb and copy and paste those items I want such as pictures, documents, etc. Not ideal I suppose, but don't really understand what else to do. Windows claim they have a backup right on their computer, but mine starts it and it stops after 2 minutes and says put it in a disk, it doesn't like usb.

Guest

I think you are doing the right thing - copying what you want to save on the stick. Windows backup is iffy. It probably did not like the Fat32 formatting because it groups the stuff together to blocks that can exceed 4GBs - and for those you need NTFS. But do not reformat your stick. Fat32 is the best formatting for sticks in terms of speed and wear and tear. Just keep copying the folders one by one. At least you know what you have and restoration is simple.

whs

Thanks

whs

Was it windows xp that had the automatic restore points. You just set up the time and then when you needed to restore, you could just go back to one of those dates. I used that a lot and was hoping I would do that here. Oh Well

Guest

�� Quote: Originally Posted by PattiChati

Was it windows xp that had the automatic restore points. You just set up the time and then when you needed to restore, you could just go back to one of those dates. I used that a lot and was hoping I would do that here. Oh Well

For scheduled backups, I suggest imaging. Macrium, Paragon Acronis - any will do.

Guest

�� Quote: Originally Posted by whs

�� Quote: Originally Posted by PattiChati

Was it windows xp that had the automatic restore points. You just set up the time and then when you needed to restore, you could just go back to one of those dates. I used that a lot and was hoping I would do that here. Oh Well

For scheduled backups, I suggest imaging. Macrium, Paragon Acronis - any will do.

Are there any free ones?

Guest

Macrium is free: Imaging with free Macrium There is also a free Paragon: Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Advanced Edition - Free Download