Muffin
enthusiast
Reged: 14/09/2006
Posts: 266
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Given my admitted computer idiocy I was wondering about dongles. It's an odd name but it could be useful. Am I right in thinking that I can use a plug in USB dongle as a back up facility? The geek who services my computer has a dongle and he just plugs it into a panel on the front of my computer case and downloads all kinds of things very fast. He says it is 1 GB.
I learned about backing up data the hard way and I now back up things on my hard drive plus a back up hard drive (both 120GB) plus a 3.5 inch floppy. I gather that floppies are not reliable - would a dongle be better?
When I looked for dongles on places like eBay they all seem to be Bluetooth whatever that is. Which dongle do I need and what size should it be - 1GB, 2GB etc? Will it be stable long term?
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Scphoto
Little Fruitbat
Reged: 13/11/2005
Posts: 2458
Loc: Birmingham, UK
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I find USB memory sticks a useful way to have ready storage if you move around a number of computers. I personally wouldn't use one as a backup source as I've corrupted a number of them in the past. If you wanted a better backup device, it might be worth considering an external USB harddrive.
I've got a few of these things, the current one being one supplied by work - link.
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Happiness is a Kebab call donor - Pictures/Blog
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Donkey
enthusiast
Reged: 31/05/2007
Posts: 201
Loc: Northants
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Dongles or Blue Tooth Dongles are not what your after me thinks, they are used to Blue Tooth devices to a Putter and each other and are unable to store Info.
They are similar in size and looks which is why people get confused 
You need to get yourself a USB Flash memory Stick and they come in various sizes from 256MB to 32GB and probably bigger, There moving as fast as the rest of the Putter industry.
They are called various different names like Gig Stick, Flash Drive, Memory Stick etc.
They are the easiest, Neatest, And quickest way to store, Backup, And move Files, Pictures, Music etc.
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beejaybee
Marvin
Reged: 18/07/2007
Posts: 4413
Loc: Really Here In Name Only
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Quote:
You need to get yourself a USB Flash memory Stick and they come in various sizes from 256MB to 32GB and probably bigger, There moving as fast as the rest of the Putter industry.
They are called various different names like Gig Stick, Flash Drive, Memory Stick etc.
They are the easiest, Neatest, And quickest way to store, Backup, And move Files, Pictures, Music etc.
And are just as reliable, or unreliable, as compact flash / SD type cards, as used in cameras.
Why not just use a large capacity CF card in the reader you probably have already for uploading images from your camera? That way you can use the same card in your camera if you run short of storage....
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Donkey
enthusiast
Reged: 31/05/2007
Posts: 201
Loc: Northants
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Yep i would agree with using CF or SD cards as a means of storage, I find using a USB Memory stick convenient thou as i know any Putter that i have to use will have a USB slot where as not all of em have card readers, So you would need to carry a compliant reader as well as the card.
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Fen
BAD WOLF
Reged: 12/03/2002
Posts: 20058
Loc: Currently Unknown!
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A 'dongle' was originally a piece of hardware that you plugged into the back of the computer (usually via the printer port).
It was part of the security protection for the software.
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Fen .......... My Galleries - My Blog - My Flickr
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Muffin
enthusiast
Reged: 14/09/2006
Posts: 266
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My thanks to all! My confusion may have increased sadly. When I lost a lot of data some while back I was told that I must have three back-ups which is why I now have two identical 120GB hard drives and my floppy disc drive. It would seem that a dongle is not the answer for use as back up. I have a card reader and I could use a CF card. The other gizmos also look interesting. Hmmmmmmmm.
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jchrisc
Reged: 20/01/2003
Posts: 5566
Loc: Ampthill, Bedfordshire
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Quote:
A 'dongle' was originally a piece of hardware that you plugged into the back of the computer (usually via the printer port).
It was part of the security protection for the software.
Yup - I recall that one of my regular bits of software wouldn't work without it's dongle plugged in (Visicalc maybe, or Lotus) and it was a real pain in the posterior.
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Chris
My memory is getting worse . . . and my conscience clearer
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Muffin
enthusiast
Reged: 14/09/2006
Posts: 266
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I have been looking at eBay and saw a "40GB 2.5 USB 2.0 EXTERNAL POCKET SLIM HARD DRIVE".
They are about £10 plus p&p. They are very small and slim and portable and it is a hard drive. They seem to have two USB cables for some reason - something to do with the power required.
Any back-up gizmo that is unstable is a no-no and maybe a hard drive of this type could be the answer? Anyone know of this device and whether it is reliable?
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Benchista
Wich Tyler
Reged: 11/08/2000
Posts: 36906
Loc: Everywhere and nowhere, baby
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Dunno about that one, but I've got a 250 gig one that uses two USB leads to supply sufficient power - seems reliable so far, and it lives with my laptop to provide backup.
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Nick
www.nbrphoto.com
Light and Shade II - the new blog
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Muffin
enthusiast
Reged: 14/09/2006
Posts: 266
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Thanks, Nick. Sounds interesting. I may not need more than 40GB but I am pleased to hear that your hard drive works! Losing data is a real pain and I know there are two kinds of computer users - those who have lost data and those who haven't done it yet. Hard copy is good but a nuisance in terms of paper usage and storage.
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Wheelman
Reged: 23/11/2002
Posts: 812
Loc: Kent/Sussex border
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Used to use a dongle with Autocad and yes they were a pain (I think it may even still be in a drawer here somewhere)
I use a 250GB Western Digital passport which is a small 2.5" drive for one of my backups and this comes with me when I am away from the computer. This only needs one USB lead to work. If you use one from a hub make sure it is a powered one (and the power adapter is plugged in  )
I also use two other external drives which I backup to twice a week and the main computer has two HDDs and backs one to the other every 15 minutes. Both these have separate power supplies.
This is probably over the top but as I use the computer for work losing a directory full of CAD drawings is not a cheerful prospect.
If you are going for an external drive I would buy new, and either a Seagate or Western Digital as backup is a fairly critical operation. If you think that 40Gb will be large enough then I would look for a min of 80Gb, more if you intend to run more than one backup file-it will soon fill up
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Colin
IRIPN
When you don't know where you are going then any road will do
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Fen
BAD WOLF
Reged: 12/03/2002
Posts: 20058
Loc: Currently Unknown!
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I've still got my Autocad dongle and the one for the first versions of 3DStudioMax
Also one for the MAC version of Authorware, not that anyone will know what that is!
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Fen .......... My Galleries - My Blog - My Flickr
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Muffin
enthusiast
Reged: 14/09/2006
Posts: 266
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Colin - most interesting and it could be the way to go. I will check eBay! 250GB is a lot of data.
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DaveS
member
Reged: 22/06/2007
Posts: 196
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Dongle are still around, believe me! I had a hell of a time recently when I upgraded from Avid Xpress pro to Media Composer and the dongle wouldn't update. Turned out there was a glitch in their system and my registation had got held up.
Oh and 250 Gig is small beer when editing video, Im fast running out of space in 3 250 G USB drives so I've just ordered a 1TB disk which I expect will fill up fast, but since I'm running it in an eSATA enclosure, I can swap it out when it fills up.
Then get a second encloure for making archive backups.
Dave
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