I just had a horrible computer scare. It seemed my computer had crashed, and I have nothing backed up. Like everyone else, I've got my whole life on there, and I was getting ready to end it all, but after turning it back on it worked. You can bet the very first thing I did was look up external hard drives.

But I don't know the first thing about tech stuff. Here's what I would like – an external hard drive that is plug and play, doesn't require software, automatically backs up everything, and costs under $100, and can be used by a tech-challenged person. I really don't need any huge capacity, all I use it for is internet, word processing, and email. Nothing else. I don't know how much space – or whatever it's called – I'm currently using. All I can find is that my computer has 2.67 GHz / 504 MB RAM / 66GHz CPU. Whatever that means.

I saw a Western Digital at Staples for $80 that looks okay, but truthfully I have no idea. It is - Model: WDBAAF5000EBK-N. Does anyone know this one, or can anyone recommend one that fits my description above. I don't even know what to do when I get one, but I'll figure it out. Appreciate any help.

Hi;
Yes, computer failures are a big scare. Backup has become easier and it's almost as easy as you want, but not quite.

I use a Mac, which has an automated backup to an external drive over wireless connection. I haven't used a Windows machine for a while, but the basic principle is the same. Others can perhaps advise on the exact software they use.

The closest you can get to you want is probably a cheap drive of almost any kind plus backup software. You want something several times the capacity of your hard drive. A 1 terabyte drive is pretty cheap these days, but you can probably manage with smaller.

You will then install some backup software and set it up to run a scheduled complete backup of your hard drive daily at a time when your use is down. The first backup will take a while, but then it will do daily incremental backups of changes and those are fast. Once you've got this set up you can pretty much forget it--until you need the backup.

Sounds like you might want to get your computer looked at as well. Might just need some tuning and cleanup. If you take it to a local geek they can set up your backup at the same time. Shouldn't cost much since it's a very simple process.

Best of luck and don't delay.