Simplicity Itself

Here i’s the solution for a Big Beige Box; the solution also takes care of my networked laptop computer.

The IDE drive sits in a cartridge which slides into the computer on rails. Kit costs about $15 to $30 depending on store.

On rising:

I slide the drive in & power on the computer, which detects (a) that it is the first boot of the day and (b) that an extra drive is in place, and so initiates an XCOPY of those files which have their archive bit set, and when done powers off the computer.

After I ha’ve finished starting the coffee:

I return to the machine, now powered off, slide out the IDE drive and power on.

The IDE drive-on-rails is kept in a closet away from the machine.