CDRW Shot - how can I backup data now - use a External Hard Drive?

[Smudge]

My CDRW drive on my 5 year old Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop is shot. I need to back up all of my data (my documents, ect) as well as my Itunes library which is 5gb. What is the best solution for me? Would an external HD do the trick or is there something better (I need to do this the cheapest way possible). I also have a new desktop computer with a DVD-RW drive, and if I could somehow get my data and itunes library to the desktop then I would be able to backup everything on a DVD I suppose. Thanks for any help!!!

 

[heyman421]

just get a 2nd hard drive and set them up to mirror each other

then you'll never have to do another backup again.

 

[Smudge]

just get a 2nd hard drive and set them up to mirror each other

then you'll never have to do another backup again.

Ok - thanks, but excuse my ignorance. Could you explain how I could accomplish this? Thanks

 

[Styrak]

Get an external hard drive like you said, or get an external CDRW or DVDRW drive.