There is a great program by Rebit that images the entire internal drive, and then backs up files in real time so nothing is ever more than a few minutes old on the external HD. Comes with a recovery CD in case your internal drive dies or gets fatally infected. Can do this on up to 6 PCs on one external drive.

I plan to buy a Seagate FreeAgent 1.5TB external drive. (Good price) But it comes preloaded with their own backup software.

I "assume" that as soon as I plug in the FreeAgent into my PC (via USB) it will want to start installing the FreeAgent software.

I want to format the FreeAgent drive, so I can load my Rebit software on it.

Can anyone tell me how to plug in the new FreeAgent external drive, and NOT have it start installing automatically, so I have a chance to format the FreeAgent drive?

Thanks...


Also, the Rebit Software (model RSCD350000MPOS) is only sold online ($42-$49). I've not bought much online before. Can anyone recommend a reputable online retailer that is reasonably priced ?

Whether you have XP or Vista you do have control over what happens when you plug in a USB device. If an autorun file is detected and Windowsd wants to run it you get a pop-up box asking you what to do. If that doesn't happen in your system then check these instructions: Disable Autoplay of Audio CDs and USB Drives :: the How-To Geek

I recently formatted a 1TB drive... about 11 hrs! Of course I was wiping MAC formatting so it was a full format.

Thanks NK.

If I plug in the HD and it starts to download, what can I do safely to stop it?

11 hours... WOW!

Nothing would start to download automatically nor will it install without giving you a prompt. What I have seen is that the host system wants to scan the attached drive (could be for indexing purposes or AV scan) but you can stop that, there will be a cancel or stop button.

As for retailer, you can't beat Amazon (link takes you to a search result list for Rebit, is yours the second item?): Amazon.com:

Thanks NK. I feel a bit safer now plugging in this new drive.

The Rebit software I want is the 4th one down. The muti-PC version. I have 3-4 computers I want to back up and image the drive.

Now it looks like Amazon lists various retailers. Are there any you would recommend or avoid? ANTOnline is the cheapest. Heard anything about them?