
I learned the hard way...in other words, almost $3,000 in total. I had 3 hard drives that crashed at different times and I finally HAD to bite the (very expensive and ill-afforded) bullet and fix them ALL to recover things I MIGHT need -- one was so long ago I didn't even know what was on there. I just got the last of the 3 back.
Don't let this happen to you!! An external hard drive is one of the best investments you can make!