My home desktop Windows 7 PC is telling me the disk is about to fail and I need to do a backup.

[Iggo]

I have never done that, or anything like that. (yeah, yeah, I know...)

What actual hardware do I need to get in order to accomplish this? (external drive? cords? other stuff?)

I see a lot of stuff all over the net on HOW to do a backup and WHICH files and data to backup, but not a lot on the actual hardware.

Can I get a little help, por favor?

POSSIBLY PERTINENT INFO: I'm ready for a new desktop anyway, and I was already shopping around. If I get, for example, a Windows 10 machine, will I have problems restoring my files that I backed up from my Windows 7 machine?

I really really appreciate any assistance I can get.

Thank you!!!!

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Best bet: Buy an external hard drive.

You can buy some decent ones for reasonable price (I have one that is 1.8 TB). Once you have it, you can connect via USB and begin moving all your important documents over to it.

As for your second question: you shouldn't have too much issue with W7 files as I upgraded from W7 to W10 on my old machine and lost nothing. I say shouldn't but there is always the possibility you run into some compatibility issues on older files...but I doubt it'd be much an issue.

[TexasTowelie]

5. Probably the best bet, particularly if dealing with files that require some level of security.

If there aren't security issues present (like a file with login credentials and passwords) or other sensitive documents, it might be more cost effective to transfer the files into the cloud. I have an external hard drive that I used for about four months from the time that my desktop with Windows 7 died and I purchased a new laptop with Windows 10. I haven't encountered any issues between the operating system upgrades.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. Yes. Though, I'm a tin foil wearer when it comes to the cloud lol

[TexasTowelie]

9. I don't blame you.

I'm reluctant to even upload a picture of myself into the cloud or on Facebook. I usually limit my photo uploads to pictures of my cats (past & present) and scenery. Unfortunately, there are too many people who like to snoop and gossip that I'm concerned that any information that I post could be used maliciously.

[msongs]

2. suggest several things...

get an external hard drive which are very cheap these days. backup your data you need to keep to that hard drive. include data files, download folder, desktop folder, favorites from your browsers

go ahead and get the new computer and backup data to that computer.

all your programs will need to be reinstalled on the new box.

[Iggo]

13. That's what I'm going to do. Thanks for your suggestions!

[LunaSea]

3. Best bet: Buy an external hard drive.

Absolutely.
You might consider getting one with multiple ports beyond just USB for the sake of speeding the transfer of data.

[Iggo]

14. I'm shopping online right now for curbside pickup at the Best Buy up the road.

Thank you for your help!

[Alex4Martinez]

4. Make sure your external drive is large enough

In my experience buy one with twice the storage as the harddrive you're backing up.

Large, 2 TB (terrabyte) drives are much cheaper than they were, but you might get by with 500GB, depends on your desktop storage size.

Also, be sure that your external drive is compatible with windows and that you have the right cable to connect to your box.

[Iggo]

15. There's a 2 TB on sale right now, I'm picking it up tomorrow. AND the cable...lol.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[Alex4Martinez]

16. Perfect!

Good luck with it all!

[Hoyt]

7. I'd probably do a cloud backup right now, then get some kind of external drive.

Depends on how much stuff you have, how current you need to keep it, etc.

[Iggo]

17. I put a bunch of stuff on some on the space I had left on a couple of sticks.

16G and 64G.

Then I shut it down, and I'm crossing my fingers I can start it up again tomorrow when I bring home my new external hard drive.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

[SheltieLover]

8. Depending on how much dada you have

You can copy to flash drive if that's all you have available.

[Iggo]

10. I do that every few months with my photos.

I got in the habit of doing that because up until this past Xmas I was still using an iPhone 4S, and I knew that sucker could die any second.

Not sure I have much room on the ones I have for much of anything else, but I'll check. I've got a ton of pdf's and other downloads. The rest is mostly financial stuff, tax filings, receipts, stuff like that.

Maybe I can fit it onto what I've got, but I figure if I'm buying backup media, might as well do it right.

[SheltieLover]

11. Good

Glad you have pix backed up! I had an oldrr android that ran some sort of an update all on its own & wiped my contacts, pix, everything.

If it's just your hard drive dying youbcan get a huge SSD for around $60 or so. We have had very good luck with ours.

[Iggo]

12. That's pretty much what I'm looking at.

I've got a Best Buy right up the road that's still doing curbside.

[WhiteTara]

18. you can transfer your current pc

to your new one with PC Mover. It works great. But external hard drive is a good idea too.