Toshiba 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive HDDR320E04XW (Vivid White)

The built-in backup software that comes with this portable, fast Toshiba drive allows you to do two types of backup. The drive works well, but the backup software is the primary reason that I rate it 5 stars.An IMAGE backup takes a snapshot of your hard drive, then allows you to restore an exact copy of that snapshot later. My strategy is to automatically make a new image backup on the same day of each month, and to keep the last three backups. You could backup weekly, but monthly is frequently enough for me. (You'll have to rename two older backup folders manually to keep two older backups plus the current one.) That prevents you from having to start from scratch if you have to reload Windows for any reason. You won't have to load dozens of Windows updates and you won't have to get a special dispensation from Adobe to reinstall your fully legal copy of Photoshop, for example. If you have many applications installed, this can save you 2-3 days on a Windows reload. You can reload to the same or larger drive on the same PC, but (I believe) you can't transfer everything to a new machine - due to driver issues.A FILE BY FILE backup automatically makes daily (or even hourly) copies of important files - your documents and settings, email, photos, music, and anything else that changes on a regular basis. If you restore from an IMAGE backup, you can use this FILE BY FILE backup to bring your PC up to date with everything that has changed since your last IMAGE backup. You can also use these backups to restore a damaged file to last night's version, or to the version from several days ago.The more expensive versions of Vista and Windows 7 include both IMAGE and FILE BY FILE backup software. XP and (I believe) home versions of Vista and Windows 7 do not. In any case, the 640 GB hard drive provides the space for multiple backups of most hard drives - unless your 320 GB drive is filled to the brim. My 250 GB drive has less than 100 GB in use, so I have enough space to include an occasional IMAGE backup of a second computer.$99 is a small price to pay for automatic daily backups of your photos, music and email - and to eliminate the need for a complete reinstall of Windows. If you can afford two drives, you can keep one off-site in a safe deposit box, to cover you in case of theft or fire. How many of your friends or family members have lost all of their photos because they never backed them up?My only complaint about this drive is that the USB cable is just 10 inches long. That's perfect for a laptop, but can be a stretch for a desktop PC. Two cables would be nice, to cover both types of PCs. But I still give it 5 stars, because this is the first portable drive I've purchased that includes software for IMAGE backups. It's "Backup Now EZ" by NTI, and the user guide is online if you want to see how it works. Search for the user guide using the quotes, as shown above.

I owned a computer company for fifteen years before I retired. I have owned or tested just about everything there is out there. Toshiba makes great products. This external drive is the best I have ever used or tested! Now let me tell you some of the things about this drive that is not mentioned so you can make your decision whether you should buy it. First of all my orders from Amazon have always arrived on time with no damage or problems. This drive is just a pleasure to setup and use. It has all types of different settings if you choose to use them. So here goes.1. Plug the USB cable furnished with the drive into the drive and plug it in a USB port on your computer, and it will install itself. Just say yes to everything and wait until it is finished. Just about stupid proof. O yes don't forget to have your computer turned on. Ha! Ha!2. There is no manual with the drive and you don't need one.3. When it is done with it's setup a screen will come up showing you what you can back up. You have the option of how, when, and why.4. The only option that needs to be changed for 98% of us is when we want to backup, such as every hour, ever day, every week and so on including the time you want to back up.5. There is a help selection menu that explains it all on the menu.6. When it first installs itself it will recommend a complete back up of the system and all your folders. This I would do the first time and after that you can select what you want to back up.7. Myself I just backup my folders. I don't backup the total system every time. But that is just the way I do it. You can do it anyway you like!8. I suggest you make a boot up disk. Just select it from the menu. Do not format the blank disk it will do everything it's self.9. If something goes wrong with your computer you can use this disk to boot your computer and then just restore everything on your drive.10. The retore feature gives you the ability to restore everything or just what you want.11. The external drive barely gets warm after running for a long time.12. You can password protect the drive if you wish. Just remember this! You cannot retrieve the password if you forget it so be careful when you choose a password.13. You also can select how fast you want to backup the computer. The faster you back up ,the slower the computer runs. I set the speed for minimum speed so my computer runs fast. Remember you can use the computer for anything you want while it is backing up and you won't even know it is backing up if you have it set to minimum.This is a great external drive and you will really be happy with it. Just buy one and forget about losing your files from a computer break down.This drive is about four inches long, three inches wide and about a half inch thick. You can put it in your pocket and take it with you.About the only thing I might suggest is a longer extension cable for it. The cable it comes with is only about a foot long. I have a three foot extension cable on mine so I can sit it on a shelf so nobody sets anything on it.The drive is black and white in color

These days 320 Gig isn't really all that much - but if all you're looking for is backup, then it's just right.This external hard drive is small enough (3" x 5") to fit in your pocket. Pricing... compare the price of this to any 32 Gig Flash Drive (such as the Super Talent 32G Flash Drive) - this external drive actually costs less than a Flash drive that only holds 1/10th the data.This drive works with Windows XP/Vista/7 - which makes it great for porting information from one system to another. It also works with Mac OS X.The manual that comes with it is nothing - it lists the warranty in 7 different languages. The only instructions for the drive are found on the front cover of the manual... but what instructions do you need? Just plug 'n play.There is backup software included on the drive, but it does not auto-install - you don't have to use it if you don't want to.Pros: small, lightweight, easy to use, reliable, good size for backing up everything you need to on your computer. Very portable. Fairly sturdy. It even looks decent.Cons: the enclosed USB cable is only 6" long. (Yeah, that's the only thing wrong with this drive)This drive is highly recommended for anyone who is tired of backing everything up to CDs, DVDs and Flash drives. If you need something bigger, Toshiba also has 500 GB, 640 GB and 1 TB external hard drives.