If the drive is recognized, you are good to go - copy that data off ASAP and ensure you have two copies. To do this, power up the drive and connect it to your computer’s USB port.
We use Microsoft drivers for our externals for this (among others) reason. While the drive you are using is not officially compatible with Windows 8.1, the OS most likely will be able to detect the drive out of the box. Total cost of both drives would be around $150 USD + tax etc.Īs for your first question, the first thing we need to determine is if the drive is still functional. Here is a good low-cost desktop (wall-powered) drive that should work as the replacement drive:Īs for the backup, you can use another identical drive, or if you want something more portable (easier to take off site) this one will work:
Some people recommend a “cloud backup” for the second copy, although I personally prefer to use a small “passport” drive and keep it off-site (in my case in a safety deposit box at my bank). Hi off just to make sure we are all on the same page, based on the model number you provided this is a 160 GB My Book Essential with a green ring on the front like in the picture below:Ĭonsidering how old the drive is (In my experience, the average lifespan of a hard drive (in use or not) regardless of manufacturer is about 3-5 years) the answer to your second question is an emphatic “Yes” - you should ALWAYS have TWO copies of important data on separate current devices.
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