External hard drive... help!

[Behappy]

Hi

I have an old laptop that is years old. Last time I used it over a year ago, it seemed to have some sort of virus which meant I couldn’t do a thing. Anyway, I’ve logged it on today and suddenly I now have access to all my old photos on there.

I really want to save them and get rid of the laptop, but I haven’t a clue what sort of external hard drive to get. I have thousands of photos to save and a huge amount of video footage.

Can anyone recommend something that would do the job?

Thank-you

[novocastrian]

how many GB are we talking about?

you can get 64gb usb sticks for @£15 & 128GB @£30

i would get a brand like sandisk for exmaple rather than a generic 'ebay' one

[Behappy]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

how many GB are we talking about?

you can get 64gb usb sticks for @£15 & 128GB @£30

i would get a brand like sandisk for exmaple rather than a generic 'ebay' one

See more...

I haven’t got a clue, and wouldn’t know how to find out. I’m completely clueless with it all. I will google what you mention, thank-you 👍

[wanye]

ok, if all the photos are in a main folder on the drive, right-click on the root folder and select properties. it will then calculate the size on disk and tell you how much space youll need.

but as its just photos, its unlikely to be *too* big unless you were shooting in RAW with a DSLR. 2tb should be more than enough for the average user, as well as giving you loads of spare room

amazon/Seagate-Bac...81ed83e91dbd63

hth

[theCMG]

if that PC is connected to the internet I would suggest to get a gmail account and when logged in go to Google Drive, you can copy the files right there and unless you have a crazy amount the free storage should suffice

[papamouse]

also also

I would back them up online - or just copy them to your current pc...

but you can buy a laptop hard drive enclosure and just remove the hard drive from the laptop and keep that original drive as your external drive.

£6 from currys: currys/gbuk/comput...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

If its really old and currently working though, back em up asap before it goes wonky again and you risk loosing them

[novocastrian]

as above

best policy is 3 copies of everything one ideally stored elsewhere /ie online

so worst comes to the worst you always have 1 copy

[Behappy]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Every time I try to connect it to the internet, the screen goes black or freezes, and an American women starts talking about threats detected. I can’t then do anything except turn it off. Sadly I can’t therefore download them online.

In terms of size, the photos are all saved in numerous folders dating over the last 7 years. I also have numerous folders containing the videos (taken on a camcorder or phone) which I want to save too.

I really wish I was more clued up on this sort of thing. I just want to get my photos and videos off it before it completely dies of whatever virus is on there.

[Guest]

i would buy a few 128 gig USB sticks ( branded, like sandisk from a reputable seller )

then just copy them to that

you could buy a SSD and do the same with that

[papamouse]

Originally Posted by Behappy

Thanks everyone for your replies. Every time I try to connect it to the internet, the screen goes black or freezes, and an American women starts talking about threats detected. I can’t then do anything except turn it off. Sadly I can’t therefore download them online.

In terms of size, the photos are all saved in numerous folders dating over the last 7 years. I also have numerous folders containing the videos (taken on a camcorder or phone) which I want to save too.

I really wish I was more clued up on this sort of thing. I just want to get my photos and videos off it before it completely dies of whatever virus is on there.

See more...

yep you have a bit of malware on there.

Threat Detected is what the lady on the Avast virus protection says
or
browser hacks say something like "your computer has a virus, we are blocking - blah blah, call this toll free number" blah blah...

Its all fixable though.

Use another pc to download a free virus protection and a malware program. I suggest Avast and AdAware - both free. Then put them on a stick and install them on the old laptop and let them do their stuff.

that should kill the malware.


A few other tweaks may work (open browser, then press Ctrl, Alt, Delete - open task manager and close the offending pop up, then with browers open, go into settings and disable all the extensions - also uninstall anything that doesn't look kosher)