Thinkpads Forum

I've got a R50p which has Rapid Restore Ultra. My data now exceeds the size of the backup partition, so I need an external HD. Are there compatiblity issues, or will any external USB drive work with my R50p and Rapid Restore software? Or would some other software work better with cheap external USB drives?

My internal HD is, by the way, 60 GB.

RRUltra does not backup into the backup partition. The backup partition is only meant for backing up the required OS/Driver/Utility files so that your notebook can be brought back to the factory-fresh like condition if somehow the setup becomes unusable. RRUltra backs up your files to the same C: partition but uses hidden/inaccessible folders. Are you mentioning about another partition (created by you) where RRU has been doing the backups and that now it has run out of space ?

Regarding the use of external USB HD drives, yes you can use any USB drive for this purpose. It just needs to be partitioned and formated. If you intend to do your backups this way, then it is advisable to have a dedicated drive with a single partion meant only for RRU and its backups. RRU has its own complexities.

There are lots of other user-friendly softwares meant for this purpose. I think if you go to 'Search' and look for 'RnR', 'RR' etc etc, you will find enough info to take the right decision.

Thanks

PS: Your Location details are missing. Pls mention it. It is against the rules of this forum. May be a Mod will point it out better.

Yes, you can buy any USB HD for Rapid Restore backup.

But be aware that Rapid Restore will FORMAT your external USB HDD first.

So any data on it will be lost...

w0qj wrote:Yes, you can buy any USB HD for Rapid Restore backup.

But be aware that Rapid Restore will FORMAT your external USB HDD first.

So any data on it will be lost...

Only if you use ThinkVantage "Create Recovery Media", and then only if
you allow it to erase what's already on the drive.