Something I would suggest to anyone that is using a digital camera, get a USB external drive and keep a copy of your pictures on it as well as your hard drive (I have 2 hard drives + the USB). They are not expensive- $100-120 for 120GB. The USB drive is easy to remove and install, plug and play on XP. If for some reason you have a really bad computer problem, be it virus, failed power supply or lighting strike if you have the USB drive seperated from your computer, it will not be distroyed. Keeping it in a totally different building is not a bad idea. I would hate to have years of photos distroyed.