A:Answer Yes - it can backup important files from your hard drive. I wouldn't say it can backup the whole hard drive, but it can hold all your important documents, pictures, video, and music. I bought one and used it for backing up important files on my hard drive and my hard drive crashed 2 weeks later. It was easy to put the files on the new drive - really a life saver. You can also use a program from Microsoft to help setup your backup files. It is called SyncToy, is free, and you just download it.