Is it possible to put a game on the external harddrive, but keep the file o. the WiiU? It seems you can only transfer all files for the game, not move them individually. Any ideas?

From reading in this very forum the files stay together.

Is it possible to back up files on my computer? I've read that once you install a harddrive to the WiiU, it's basically locked to it.

Or heck, is my paranoia of external harddrives corrupting unfounded? I have a Seagate which people seem to think is a good brand...

According to Nintendo, once your Wii U formats your hard drive, it only works for the Wii U. I don't think it's possible to back up on a PC after that.

As long as you're not buying a cheap and nasty drive I wouldn't fret. The fat is that they have moving parts and will eventually die, so you can either spend a lot of cash on a hardware RAID unit or accept that you may need to re-download your content someday. Who knows Nintendo might release a patch with an Apple-style backup app for the Wii U to a designated hard disk!