Saving all my data to carry with me

Looks like I may be leaving Taiwan for good. I’ve got my trusty old desktop full of all kinds of stuff, info., pictures, music and programs. The problem is I don’t want to carry it with me, I’d rather sell it here.
My best choice is to buy a desktop replacement type of laptop and transfer (can I?) all the stuff onto it.
If that is too expensive for me, is there another option to save all that information other than putting it all onto disks? (if I can do that) If such a thing as a computer god exists, I’m hoping that there is some kind of device that isn’t too expensive that I can transfer all my data onto, carry it back with me, and at some later date when I get a new computer, transfer it all onto that computer.
Or am I asking too much?

Get an external HD.
Cheap, large memory space, very portable.

I bought an 80 gb external HD for 3000 at Nova…it’s the size of a cigarette case. Fits in your breast pocket. YOu can get 250 gb for practically the same price, but the size goes up.

Warning…thet are extremely fragile.

Got an iPod? Enable disk mode and use that.

DVDs are the cheapest option of course, especially if the data transfer is going to be soon.

How much data? If it’s 2GB or less (unlikely) it can be stored on a flash drive. More than that, do as said above and get an external HD. I regularly back my data up onto one.

DVDs probably are not a good idea. The increased pressure from organizations like the MPAA and RIAA means that customs are now under more and more pressure to catch those dangerous criminals trying to smuggle copyright materials across boarders.

A stack of DVDs stashed in your luggage is just asking for trouble and if anything on them is found not to be legit, you’re in trouble.

Personally I would take the hard drive out of the system and take that home. I’ve managed to easily recover files and information off supposedly erased hard drives, so don’t think it is safe to sell them on. I’d rather drill holes through it and throw it away.

So how much longer before they take interest in 60gb of DVD images and MP3s on a portable hard drive?

so it would seem that an external hard drive is the best way to go, so far. Thanks for your input, much appreciated

Why not upload to a downloadable area such as FTP?

You don’t have to carry everything…

If you decide to carry some CDs or DVDs label them clearly, and make extra copies JUST IN CASE. Leave them here in Taiwan.

OR…

Make copies of your DVDs, send them first via mail. Get someone to check that they arrive safely, are readable, and can put them somewhere safe till you get them.

Then carry the extra copies with you anyway. It might be worth a shot.

You’ll end up with two copies if everything goes well. DVDs are more durable than a hard disk.

Just my thought.
Kenneth

[quote=“Rik”]DVDs probably are not a good idea. The increased pressure from organizations like the MPAA and RIAA means that customs are now under more and more pressure to catch those dangerous criminals trying to smuggle copyright materials across boarders.

A stack of DVDs stashed in your luggage is just asking for trouble and if anything on them is found not to be legit, you’re in trouble.[/quote]

Is this really true? Seriously?
I always thought the RIAA guys were sepereate from the customs officials, and that customs wouldn’t give a crap about your cds/dvds.
What about if someone was travelling with a stack of burned dvd movies.
They could easily claim they are all personal backups, no?

I use Strongspace for offsite back-ups. You might consider it for your important documents (though its “secure” I encrypt all docs before sending).

Another question. If I buy a laptop, do I need an external hard drive to move everything from the desktop to the laptop, or can I use something like a USB cable?

You can take the hard drive out of the laptop and then connect it to your desktop computer by using a 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch ATA converter cable.

Laptop hard drives are 2.5 inches in diameter and desktop hard drives are 3.5 inches in diameter, so the 40-pin ATA connector (also called the “IDE” or “EIDE” connector) on laptop hard drives is much smaller than the ATA connector on desktop hard drives, so that’s why you need a converter cable.

Connect your laptop hard drive to the converter cable and then connect this cable to any of the unused ATA connectors inside your computer. But don’t forget to set the jumper on the back of the hard drive to the right position, depending on whether it’s a “master” or a “slave”.

There should be two ATA cables inside your desktop computer (not counting the one for the floppy drive). One is “primary” and the other one is “secondary”. Each cable should have three ATA connectors. One connector is connected to the motherboard. The connector at the other end of the cable is the “master” and the connector in the middle of the cable is the “slave”. (I’m assuming that your ATA cables are 80-wire ATA 66/100 ribbon cables. If they are the old 40-wire ATA 33 cables, then the “master” is in the middle of the cable and the “slave” is at the end of the cable.)

A friend told me that if I save stuff on an external hard drive, it’s easy to save files, but software is quite difficult, is that true? I’m an English teacher, not an engineer, so please be mindful of the advice you give. (In other words, if it’s too complicated, I’m lost)

If you have a recent PC with Windows XP and USB, then it will be no problem. Just plug it in and it will be recognized.