Storing iso files in external hard drive

[jigsaw52]

In the past I stored iso files into my external hard drive, but it got corrupted. I am wondering if iso files aren't meant to be stored on external hard drives versus a regular hard drive or is there another way placing them without any problems? Will zipping them onto folders make a difference? The iso files I am trying to store are OS such as Windows, games, etc.

When I copied/paste iso files into the external hard drive, it will appear as it was put. When I check later, it disappears but the folder shows. I haven't tried zipping them into folders yet seeing that it can be risky so just curious if anyone can help out.

[Philidor]

Why wouldn't they be meant for storage on external drives--as opposed to, say, executables, or RAR archives, or sound or graphics files? I've stored quite a few ISO files on external drives without any issues. The only problems that occur are when the drives develop bad sectors, and that's independent in my experience from the kind of file I've placed on them.

[bob5695]

every file, regardless of type/extension, is composed by 1's and 0's. also, an external harddrive is precisely the same as a "regular" harddrive, just open the case and see for yourself.

[Aaron.Walkhouse]

Burn them to CDs or DVDs and store them in a cool, dark drawer near your player/s or PC? ‌ ‌

[joew771]

every file, regardless of type/extension, is composed by 1's and 0's. also, an external harddrive is precisely the same as a "regular" harddrive, just open the case and see for yourself.

lol. you funny.

But he's right. There's no difference between an external and internal hard drive. One may be high quality and one may be shit, but it makes no difference where they are. Buy a good quality external hard drive, and you'll be fine.

[jigsaw52]

Would it make a difference if there's files already stored such as audio, photos, videos, applications, and so fourth? I have a Seagate Expansion 1TB. Here's what happened in the past; I had videos and photos already stored, then when adding ISO files (like the ones used for emulators for games) it crashed on me. A couple times the ISO files were placed, then after checking later they would disappear. But it eventually it didn't read the external hard drive. The same thing happen to a couple versions of Windows. They would be in the hard drive, then be gone after a while. I did notice the amount of GB was eating up some of the place regardless the ISO file not being there. I would format it to start all over to have a clean start. Later it stopped working after storing ISO file games.

So I don't know if maybe I should choose another manufacture or it was the hard drive itself. I want to get a 5TB from Seagate. I just hesitate because of that experience before.

[Q91]

no, the guys/girls just replied, it does not matter what kind of files you had put on your external drive. It's just that larger files are more likely to get corrupted if the HDD is damaged in any way.

[joew771]

If your Seagate was shit don't buy another one. An external hard drive should work fine, and shouldn't lose your files or get corrupted. The type of files or size don't matter. Buy a different brand. I've been using a WD for years, and it works great, but don't buy a Seagate apparently.

[Philidor]

Let your litany be: backup. Backup external drives to each other. Go for multiple redundancies. Don't leave yourself in the position where anything could fail and kill a ton of your files.

Backup, backup regularly, and backup again.

[RobertX]

Good idea.

I've been using my 2TB external for five years; it's time I put them in other affordable drives for backup.

Thank you.