Hi,
I just recieved a Iomega 7200 RPM 320 GB external Hrd Drive. My question is it better to put programs on the external drive or my
internal 80 GB Drive, and also how do I go about Backing up my Internal Hard
Drive to the External in case of Internal Malfunction, Crash, etc.

Thanks Alot Everone....

We have an external HDD on one PC - program files are kept on the internal HDD, and any backup stuff goes on the external.

To backup an image of your boot drive to your external, I recommend Acronis True Image, works for me.

The only potential issue with using an external drive for images of the OS drive is that sometimes actually restoring that image can be problematic. It requires booting to a rescue disc and being able to access and restore from an external drive. I would want to actually perform this operation to confirm that it can be done on your motherboard. For the best solution, a second internal drive is optimal for image storage, since it can be easily accessed from rescue utilities.

Backup software that simply copies data to the external and runs in Windows is another option, but does not eliminate the need for a complete re-install of Windows and all applications if your main drive fails.

No, I would not install programs to an external drive. Simply because the programs will still install files and registry keys to the system drive, so again you would be re-installing the program in the event of a system disc failure.

I keep my OS and Programs on my internal drive, and use a Drobo for my data files. It's speeded my system up, when I removed all file activity from the system drive, that's for sure. (oh, and loving the Drobo).

EddieZ