Photo storage

Caroline,  Memory is comparatively cheap especially the larger it is.  I use a USB hard drive.  A USB hard drive can have 500gb or even 1000 and still be available for around 3 or times the price of a pen drive which might only store 16gb.  

Interestingly I use 7 Day shop which is as cheap as any and it is based in Jersey.

Google for External Hard Drives

Hi Caroline,

I have a 1TB external hard drive (USB). I bought the WD Elements following recommendations from other forumites in a thread from a year or two ago, probably buried in Gear Guide somewhere. It was recommended because it doesn't come with any fancy internal programmes. It works exactly like a pen drive and leaves you to sort out files exactly how you want them. I would not be without it. It is simple and there is so much storage I will never fill it. I use it not just for photos but also for backing up.

I use two external hard drives each of 1Tb for back up. I haven't had the courage to actually remove the files from my internal hard drive but the time will come when I have to think about it. Mine needs an external power source but there are portable ones which are powered from the usb port.

Another option is to burn them to a DVD disc if your computer has a drive. They hold about 7 or 8 times the amount you can get on a CD.

Another option you could consider is online storage. There are a number of companies that offer a certain amount of free storage. Here's a review from PC Advisor.

www.pcadvisor.co.uk/.../the-5-best-free-online-storage-services

I haven't used them myself but it's worth looking into.

Susan H said:

I have a 1TB external hard drive (USB). I bought the WD Elements following recommendations from other forumites

That's what I've got too.

Don't rely on any one method of storing anything precious. Have backup in at least two other places. CDs are probably the least reliable. They have a habit of getting damaged or failing for no apparent reason. External hard drives are good but can be fragile so make sure they can't get accidentaly knocked. Even the slightest knock can prove fatal to them. Online backup is probably safest of all as long as you choose a company with a long standing reputation.

In the event of a serious computer crash , don't panic. Hard drives can be removed and the data recovered to another machine. You can do it yourself for just a few quid.

Susan H said:

Hi Caroline,

I have a 1TB external hard drive (USB). I bought the WD Elements following recommendations from other forumites in a thread from a year or two ago, probably buried in Gear Guide somewhere. It was recommended because it doesn't come with any fancy internal programmes. It works exactly like a pen drive and leaves you to sort out files exactly how you want them. I would not be without it. It is simple and there is so much storage I will never fill it. I use it not just for photos but also for backing up.

Well that is exactly what I bought to complement my new computer back at New Year.  I thought I was buying a 500 GB drive but but when I got it home I found it was 1TB. Easy mistake to make these days. It cost me about £85   It is USB compatible and shifts data like nothing I have seen before.

I also bought a 16 GB Sandisk memory stick the same day. I was amazed at how small it was. It is so small that there is the biggest part is the slider.  It has encryption too and only cost about £17

The encrytion works too.

For a number of years I have carried a 16 GB Cruzer memory stick in my pocket. That is like carrying a minicomputer around as it has not only got data but programmes.  Very hand when one comes to a computer that does not have the software you require. I carry things like Firefox and Open Office on it.

Oh, catalogued photos - now that would be really good - sadly, not a chance!

I know what I should do (apart from getting round to cataloguing my photos) and that is saving the small number of good photos - maybe 5-10% on a good day - and moving the rest to an external drive. That would keep the main computer freed up. I have a 500GB passport-sized one which seems very good. Comments about external hard drives having suicidal tendencies should be listened to. One of mine deliberately jumped off the computer and fell into many pieces - it didn't survive even though it was a small fall on to carpet. So multiple back-ups is good advice.

As far as online storage is concerned, I use Dropbox which is very good - it automatically syncs the files in a folder so you don't have to do too much if you add or delete or edit photos and you can access the files from any computer which can be really useful when on hols or visiting places. It offers 2GB free storage but you can create more in various ways.

Can I add a link? I will remove it if it breaks rules...

Dropbox

I have a 500gb external hdd does the job, and many pen drives 16gig.

The only principle is that you got to have a copy in a completely different place. Obviosly the cloud is good as it is physically removed from your data.

Years ago I nearly got banned from a forum for telling someone to back up their data. You see this person had just lost some precious pictures and they had no backup. Now the host somehow took exception to my advice and demanded I apologise. I said that I had given the same advice thousands of times and had never been asked to apologise.

The forum failed and I was not surprised. Maybe it was not backed up! :)

I remember the days when the computer had to be backed up on forty floppies. Yes I had one of the big hard disks. All of 40 megabytes.

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