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I want to take all the stuff off my old pc before I send it to be recycled. What is the best portable hard drive thingie? As you can see, I don't know what I need, just know that there is something I can use?

Google External hard drives and you will get a lot more recommendations than you need. We bought a 1 Tb drive from Amazon. If has worked ok.
I would suggest though that you either do it yourself or ask someone to do it and remove the disc drive from inside your old machine before scrapping it. Your Data on the  drive can be lifted by various means and unless you can physically destroy the drive it is hard to completely clean it all off.

Might not even need an external hard drive depending on how much stuff you want to transfer. You can pick up 32Gb usb sticks for very little money now.

Knowing what to transfer is the important bit ;)

As has been said you need to work out how much personal data you have and then decide on the most cost-effective solution ... 32GB memory stick(s) or an external hard disk.

What do you mean by recycling? If it is going to a tip and thence onwards to a company who will break it up and recycle various components then I agree that the best solution is to get somebody to physically remove the disk for you and smash it up.

If the PC is going to be used by another person then you need to delete all your personal data and uninstall any software which you are likely to install on the new PC, particularly any software that you have paid for.

Finally, you will need to "scrub" the disk to physically remove your data from the disk - straightforward deleting does not do this. CC Cleaner, a free utility, includes such a capability although beware that it can take hours to complete.

If you have network sockets on both new and old, you can transfer your files over the network, but if you buy an external drive/stick you will have something to backup your files onto.

My last upgrade, I just took the disk out of the old and put in the new, but not for the amateur with a brand new computer.

I got a WD (western digital) 500gb passport one. bout £100 in argos. Mine was a lot less than that but mine is an old style one.
I like them cos if you should fill it up, you can buy another one in a different colour.
Ive been using mine for 18 months and only a fraction full, heaps of pics and albums on there.

Some good advice here....... lots to choose from and prices so much lower than they once were.

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When I disposed of my last very old PC I deleted everything and removed the hard drive finally cutting it into chunks with a hack-saw to be on the safe side.  ;)

Quote from: jesssands on April 20, 2012, 01:02:56

I like them cos if you should fill it up, you can buy another one in a different colour.

Love it  :)

As ever, some really helpful advice, thanks guys

I'm probably a bit late to the party again, but I think this is quite relevant advice for anyone considering dumping a computer....

With the current cost of hard drives going through the roof, it's probably more cost effective to get an external USB caddy.  Of course, you'd need to know whether your drive was IDE or SATA, and 2.5" (laptop) or 3.5" (desktop).

Here's one for laptop drives (either type):

http://www.ebuyer.com/196828-startech-usb2-0-tool-less-enclosure-for-sata-or-ide-2-5-drives-uni2510u2v

Here's one for dekstop drives (either type):

http://www.ebuyer.com/221430-startech-infosafe-3-5-black-esata-usb-2-0-to-ide-sata-external-hard-uni3510uebgb

The added advantage of this, besides cost, is that you're not giving your old data to God knows who!  It's a big security risk.  If you've ever shopped online, it's quite possible that your credit card details are still logged in a browser cache.  Not to mention all your documents, which may be of a sensitive nature.

needed to get a portable HDD when i last changed my PC. I chose one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/120Gb-Portable-Drive-including-Software/dp/B0019HA224/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1341764026&sr=1-3

Not the fastest transfer speed but reliable with no compatabilty issues. Decent length cable. Looks nice too and comes with a case and backup software. Different sizes available.

Hope this helps

Quote from: Garden Manager on July 08, 2012, 17:17:42
needed to get a portable HDD when i last changed my PC. I chose one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/120Gb-Portable-Drive-including-Software/dp/B0019HA224/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1341764026&sr=1-3

Not the fastest transfer speed but reliable with no compatabilty issues. Decent length cable. Looks nice too and comes with a case and backup software. Different sizes available.

Hope this helps

That looks interesting and cheap too.

Those self-powered drives are actually notoriously unreliable.  Cheap and cheerful, but I wouldn't use it to store the only copy of anything vital!

Quote from: retro on July 22, 2012, 00:50:15
Those self-powered drives are actually notoriously unreliable.  Cheap and cheerful, but I wouldn't use it to store the only copy of anything vital!

Had the first of mine nearly 3 years (longer than current desktop PC) Had no problems so far and its still going strong.having said this it may go wrong tomorrow!!

Tend not to use the drives that often, only to look at whats on them, add or remove occasionaly. Not like a proper external drive where its often on all the time whether you are using it or not.

Oh i have the most important data backed up on CD, DVD or on another drive.

I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions along similar lines?

I cannot put stuff on a C.D. (holiday snaps) with my computer as it hasn't got the facility to 'write' ? to a C.D. so these memory sticks may be the answer.

Is a 32 Gb thingy bigger than a 215 Mb thingy (I have one of these) and by how much also do you have any idea how many holiday snaps will fir on one of these devices? ???

I looked at what files were on the as yet empty memory stick and there are dozens!  Are they all required? ???

Cheers and thanks in advance.    Tony.

Quote from: Kleftiwallah on July 23, 2012, 13:54:54
I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions along similar lines?

I cannot put stuff on a C.D. (holiday snaps) with my computer as it hasn't got the facility to 'write' ? to a C.D. so these memory sticks may be the answer.

Is a 32 Gb thingy bigger than a 215 Mb thingy (I have one of these) and by how much also do you have any idea how many holiday snaps will fir on one of these devices? ???

I looked at what files were on the as yet empty memory stick and there are dozens!  Are they all required? ???

Cheers and thanks in advance.    Tony.

I'm not much help but... 32Gb is massive and 215mb piddly.

As for how many snaps you could store it depends to some extent how large each image is but on 32Gb you'd have no problems with thousands I would have thought!!

Memory sticks are brilliant - easy to use (but can be easy to lose!), increasingly cheap and are slowly replacing the need for CD drives and disks for storage. They are easily rewritable too.

As for the unexpected files on the memory stick they maybe something to do with its formatting (file transfer or for automatically creating a filing system) but I'm sure someone who knows what they are talking about will come along soon and help.  ;)  ;D

Your average snapshot with a digital camera would be between 2 and 5 mb so 215 mb is prety useless these days.  32 gb (roughly 32,000 mb) is lots - thousands of pics-  but even then it runs out quickly - I took 8 Gb in Paris at the weekend.

As for files on them then generally speaking you can do without them.. They sometimes have back up programs or utilities on them but you dont actually need them..
I dont like USB sticks much because at least once a week I get someone at my office door with one that has gone tits up.  They are meant for transporting data and not backups really.
I've used a usb powered external drive for years at work with no issues but at home I prefer a mains powered device and thats what I would always advice people to use to back up thioer PC..

Many thanks for those knowledgeable replies.  :)   Cheers,     Tony.