Replacing 2 external hard disk drives.

[Grandad99]

My wife and I are both fairly keen photographers. I keep the original downloads from the cameras on 2  11 year old 1GB external hard drives. They are different makes and have both started to develop faults when I access them.  Time for new bigger ones.

My computer technical skills are almost non-existent and I would appreciate advice on 2 points

Is it just a matter of adding the new disks and copying the contents of the originals into them?

My PC is equally old and has USB2 connections.  I know that USB3 is backwards compatible but presumably will still be a much slower transfer rate.  Is it possible/easy to convert/add USB3 to my PC?

[Lisa_maree]

Hi

Good you are replacing the drives before they fail totally.

It is a matter of adding the new drive and coping the contents of the failing drives. To do this i would use a free program called unstoppable copier from here https://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29

This will copy the drives ignoring errors and give you a list of any files it is unable to copy.

The problem with usb powered drives like the ones you have is they may not be able to work reliably with the power supplied from a singe usb 2 port. Also modern drives have a different method to writing data which can make them less reliable.

Perhaps you would consider a mains powered drive like this on https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Desktop-External-Drive/dp/B01LQQHL4E?th=1
 

[Grandad99]

Thanks Lisa

I have ordered this. I'm in the UK where the Amazon price is considerably higher. Even with postage I've made a good saving - double thanks..

Now to see if my PC can be converted to USB3 - not holding my breath!

[Lisa_maree]

Hi Again,

There are options available for adding USB 3 to computers, which option depends on the format of the computer. If you could supply details of the computer I'm sure someone will be able to link a recommendation.
Make and model or a link to the specs would be great. 

[Grandad99]

Found these details, put on by the person who built it for me.

Device name   RON-PC
Processor   AMD FX(tm)-8320 Eight-Core Processor              3.50 GHz
Installed RAM   8.00 GB (7.73 GB usable)
Device ID   F75A04E6-02D3-4128-97DF-98E34DF67E0E
Product ID   00326-10000-00000-AA764
System type   64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch   No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition   Windows 10 Home
Version   21H2
Installed on   ‎18/‎04/‎2021
OS build   19044.1645

[Lisa_maree]

Hi

You could fit this card

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multibao-Expansion-Interface-Compatible-Controller/dp/B09123B1WC/ref=sr_1_16?crid=ZR4GG2OBZH01&keywords=usb+3+card&qid=1681867705&s=electronics&sprefix=usb+3+card%2Celectronics%2C330&sr=1-16