Getting a new 2nd harddrive for temporary storage, any recommendations?

[Fr3ddi30]

hey hey!
my computer has been infected with a virus
its too late to turn back and fix it. so im going to reboot it
now i need to back up say 60gb
any recommendations or warnings?
thanks, just need to know so i dont blast out my money on a piece of s**t like i usually end up doing rofl

 

[captaincranky]

Superstition.....

First, "reboot", technically is just turning on the power. So, I'm fairly certain that you meant "reformat" and then reinstall the OS.

Second, I don't understand why you would want a 2nd drive for "temporary" storage. I like to put my files on the second drive, and just use the 1st drive for the OS (as much as possible).

Third, do we know if the files you're going to transfer have been infected also? So they need to be scanned with completely up to date anti-virus program before you put them anywhere. After all the virus came from somewhere, didn't it?

4: Here's the superstition: I generally just buy a duplicate of the drive I already have, since I figure that 2 of the same drives are the most likely to play nicely together.

This post should probably be in "Storage and Networking", not other hardware. But moreover, you should seek help with your virus problem from the "Security and the Web" forum before you do anything else.

 

[raybay]

In recent years, there has been little need to have identical drives. In the days of Quantum vs Deskstar vs Maxtor vs Samsung vs Western Digital that was definitely a benefit.
The best drives these days are those Seagates with the five year warranties... 80, 160, 250, 300, 500 gigibytes and higher with 7200 rpm. Prices are remarkably low at www.zipzoomfly.com, www.tigerdirect.com, www.outpost.com, www.directron.com. Look for a 16 mb buffer, if PATA, or 8 MB if SATA. Drives above 250 GB are slower in access and other timings, but you will not notice significant differences.
Other brands still have high failure rates when larger than 80 GB... Seagate seems to have whipped the reliability problems.
After Seagate, Samsung, then Western Digital for reliability. Avoid Hitachi, TriGem, LaCie, and Maxtor in sizes larger than 80 GB.

 

[Tedster]

well before you add anything else. Clear and wipe the system clean to avoid infecting the new drive. Any new drive will be just fine for secondary storage.

 

[Fr3ddi30]

thanks ppl!
appericiate it.