In our opinion, this is a big mistake. The reason is many people mistakenly use external drives as primary storage. And this is where the problems begin: 
- External drives should be used as secondary storage (a second ‘copy’) or to transport files between machines, locations, etc.
- Most users do not backup or keep secondary copies of their files, they assume when they store the only copy on an external drive, it is “backed up” – BIG MISTAKE
- When backing up to an external drive, this should be an automated copying procedure, rather than an occasional, random event.
- Users consistently drop, man-handle, accidentally abuse, and unplug external drive while they are spinning, making them unreliable storage devices at best.
So please use external storage devices wisely. Use them as transporters of data, and ‘backups’, secondary storage media, not primary storage.
You will thank me for it.
Next time – Automated backup solutions for free
