Using a Hard Drive for Your Digital Photos

Here is another post on the importance of backing up your digital pictures! I resurrect this topic often, usually right after I hear a story of someone that has lost all of their digital photos because the hard drive crashed on their computer. It breaks my heart every time and I’m hoping that as you read this you think, “Oh here is my reminder to do my own back up right now!”
Most people take their digital pictures off of their camera and store them on the hard drive on their computer or on an external hard drive. An external hard drive is not built into the body of your computer or laptop. It instead gets plugged in through the USB connection.
Both of these options are better than to simply leave them on memory cards and going through your memory card on your camera to delete photos to make room for new ones. Memory cards can get lost or corrupted very easily.
Putting your digital photos onto your computer hard drive is a good primary/temporary solution. Keep in mind, that your computer can hold only so much information. An external hard drive is a GREAT investment and you can get a terabyte drive for less than $100. Shop online for the best deals or use my first post for places to check. Click here. Unless you are a professional photographer or you take thousands of pictures on a daily basis, this size external hard drive will serve your needs for a very long time.
The other nice thing about an external is that you can attach it to any computer. So if something were to happen to your desktop, you could plug it into your laptop and still be able to access your digital photos.
Keep in mind, this is your primary location, so do not consider this solution as a ‘back up’ for your photos.
Upcoming posts will share more detailed options for truly backing up your photos. If you want an overview of your choices see my previous post here.

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