If you own a hard drive you NEED to read this!

Let me start by saying I realize this is not a very interesting topic, there’s way more fun things to read on the internet BUT it’s something you NEED to know. Trust me! You’ve captured moments from around the world or at home that could never be replicated. They are special, full of memories and irreplaceable. Almost everyone I know (including myself) has a story about how they lost important files from a failed hard drive. I want you to avoid this devastation!

Here are a few important tips to keep your hard drives functioning and reliable.

1. Have more than one hard drive. Truth is your hard drive will never be 100% reliable. Have at least one extra hard drive to back up your files on. It’s best to duplicate them so that if one fails the back up drive has everything. Another good practice is to have all your files on both drives but keep them in separate places. My teacher told me about a friend who lost years of images in a house fire because all of his drives were in his house.

2. Back up your files online. Now that we have online storage there’s less risk of losing your files physically. You can keep your files safe on a system like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud or whichever you prefer. If you upload online this is great but I would still recommend having them on a physical hard drive as well.

3. ALWAYS eject your drives before you pull the cord out of the computer. You can do this a few ways - right click your drive icon and press eject, pull your drive icon down into the trash or hover over it in your finder and press the little arrow next to the name. Same result and a happy drive!

4. Handle with care, don’t drop it. Ok I know this one seems obvious but seriously these things are fragile. I’m not really worried if I throw my phone across the room but if my drive falls even an inch I have a heart attack. Handle them with extra care.

5. Invest in a good brand. It’s tempting to buy the cheaper drive and spend the rest of your money on something fun. But chances are you’ll end up back at the store buying a new one because your cheap drive failed you and now you’re spending more in the long run. Plus paying someone to pull files off of your failed drive sucks. Follow tips 1 & 2 to avoid this! Spend the extra upfront and save yourself the stress and unnecessary future spendings.

6. If your drive starts to beep or takes a really long time to show up on your computer, consider it untrustworthy. Don’t put new stuff on it and be sure everything on there is backed up. Or don’t, but know it’s risky!

So remember, after you’ve invested in 2 or more quality hard drives, back up your files, handle it like a delicate egg and once your finished eject before you pull out!

P.S Want some recommendations? Here are the top two hard drives I can recommend from experience.

If you want the most reliable hard drive money can buy I recommend the Lacie Rugged Hard Drive. It’s used by every professional in the game and is basically bomb proof. You cannot go wrong with this baby!

My second recommendation would be this Seagate Hard Drive. I’ve had one for years, it’s travelled the world with me and never disappoints!

Note: These  are affiliate links so it helps support my blog without costing you extra!