Dude, back me up here!

May 14, 2011 12:15 PM

Can I use my iPod Touch as a backup for my pc/documents/pics/music? I thought they absolutely could be used for pics and music but then whats the deal with programs that aid in making your iPod Touch a legit hard drive? Alternatively, what to do with an iPod Touch now that I have another iDevice?

I recently got an iPhone 4 and am trying to think of what to do with my existing iPod touch. I was thinking about using my touch as an external hard drive however I ran into some snafus:
1. Is it really possible to use the iPod touch as an external hard drive? I realize that it uses flash memory and won't technically be a HARD drive but can I have my computer recognize and treat it as such?
1a. If so, how? Do I really need to download a totally different program like TouchCopy or Diskaid? If so, what program would you reccomend?
2. I'm kind of confused after all my googling attempts... I thought that the ipod was designed to store pictures and music. So why are all these programs required? Are they required simply if you are trying to backup Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, ie: using the touch like you would use a little USB flash drive? I guess I have a different idea of the word backup.
3. Any ideas on what I can do with my iPod touch now that I have the iPhone? Should I just keep using all my game apps on it or what? Creative ideas are welcomed :)

I don't really have much music on my iPod because I don't have CDs and am not interested in spending money in the iTunes store since I hate the whole iTunes setup and I'm totally scared that I'll get a virus on my computer if I download Limewire or Frostwire. So I don't have much music to backup.

However I do have lots of pictures from my digital camera that I'd like to keep secure and I'm constantly hearing that one must backup their computer. So here I am. I don't have lots of spare cash so I was hoping to convert my touch into an external HD instead of spending $50+ on one (even Walmart didn't have them cheaper than $49). But I guess I might, seeing as how the touch probably can't backup my entire computer?

If it matters, I have a Dell laptop running Windows Vista. The touch is 8GB and the previous generation model (I bought it about 2 years ago) Advice on any or all parts of my longass question(s) are appreciated. TIA.

posted by lovelygirl to Technology (3 answers total)

1. It isn't as easy as it was with older iPods because there's no "disk mode" for it or the Touch or iPhone.
1a. You'll need to pick one. I'll let others recommend which i better.
2. The iPod touch was designed to play music, videos and photos. It stores the files in a non-user-friendly format managed by iTunes. For photos, it makes smaller copies of the photos designed for the iPod touch's screen. Since you should make full-resolution backups in case something happens, using the iPod touch via iTunes isn't recommended.
3. 8GB isn't that much to use for storage space. You won't be able to store all of your computer or even close to it. If it were me, I'd continue to use the iPod touch as an iPod. If you don't need it now you have an iPhone, you may wish to give or sell it to someone.

For a backup, you can get a 500GB or 1TB drive for $50 these days which you can do to back up your computer completely so you can easily restore it if the drive fails or something happens and you need to come back to a snapshot from earlier. TouchCopy costs $25 so you can use an 8GB touch a hard drive. You can buy a 8GB USB flash drive for $10 or less. If you sell your old one on ebay or Craigslist you can probably unload it for at least $150.
posted by birdherder at 1:57 PM on May 14, 2011

I was in the same situation as you just a few weeks ago. By far the best avenue I found was to sell it. I got $118 for my touch (previous generation, 8gb like yours) on ebay even with a few scratches and not including the original packaging/cord. That's enough for a really good portable hard drive and plenty leftover to buy some accessories for your iphone.
posted by skewed at 2:58 PM on May 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

You needn't purchase an external drive, you can back up your data online for free, or for damn near free if you want to have copies of it on two different services.

Microsoft offers 25gig of storage free for any hotmail acct you set up -- that's one heck of a lot of photos/documents. And if you have more than 25 gig, set up another email acct. Simple.

And if you want redundancy, hey, Google sells 20 gig of storage for $5 a year, a very good deal, if you need more than 20 gig spend another five bucks, you're on your way.

Sell the iTouch, use the money to go somewhere for a nice weekend night hotel and dinner with your sweetie.
posted by dancestoblue at 2:07 PM on May 15, 2011