Verbatim 1TB external HDD

[Lisi <lisi.reisz@gmail.com>]

I have been asked to set this HDD up as a backup device on a Lenny system.  It 
will primarily be used for photographs and personal files. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verbatim-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B0017422EA

It is currently formatted "To" and FAT32.

What would people recommend in this situation?  Reformat or use FAT32?  And if 
reformat, to what?  I think that his slightly aged computer would probably 
blow a gasket if asked to use ext4, so am wondering about ext3.

Any other comments/experience on/of this particular piece of hardware would be 
greatly valued.  I have read some online reviews and am not reassured.

As of now, I am intending to clone (dd?  Clonezilla?) the internal HDD onto it 
and then show the user how to copy and paste new files onto it as he goes 
along, with me syncing the whole thing periodically.  Since I will not be 
there most of the time, this strikes me as simple and workable.  But anacron 
may also be a possibility.

Any caveats?  Any comments?  This, of course, similar to the problem with my 
granddaughter's computer, with the important difference that this not a  
slightly stroppy teenager, but a retired man who is cooperative and willing 
to learn, but fairly computer naive.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Lisi