After planning backups and a separate work account, I found another question to answer: where will my active files live?
My updated Windows 11 Pro plan puts current work on the internal C: drive. Older projects can stay on an external archive drive. A second drive will hold a backup of that archive.
Those jobs are different. An archive holds work I am keeping. A backup is another copy I can recover from. A drive holding the only copy is not a backup.
I do not have room to bring everything onto the laptop. I will measure the project folders, check the free space, and choose the work I am using now or expect to use soon. That includes the scripts and source files needed to produce it.
Before copying, I also need to check the drive format: how the drive stores files. Windows NTFS supports permissions for individual files and accounts. exFAT and FAT32 do not support those same access rules. I cannot assume a separate work account will protect files on every drive.
Mac and Linux users should check their own storage and permissions too. The useful question is which account can actually open the files.
My Windows destination is C:\Work, with one folder per active project. The folder name keeps things organized; permissions still need checking. I also want to review personal folders I created directly under C:, outside my personal user folder. AI tasks will get one project folder at a time.
I will back up first, then copy one project and keep the original. After checking for copy errors, I will open files, update any scripts that point to the old location, and repeat a familiar build or export with the old drive disconnected. I want to inspect the output too.
This storage move comes before installing my new development tools. Bringing real work into the AI workspace comes later, after testing its limits.
For external backups, my routine will be connect, back up, check, safely disconnect. Today, write down where your active work, archive, and backup will live.