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Storage: External Hard Drives
External Hard Drives
by Sallietwo - 12/27/06 12:01 PMI am probably asking a really stupid and simple question, but everything I have read recently on external hard drives mentions that they are used for back up or storage of pictures, etc. I want to load programs on to the external hard drive (for example photo editing software and anything else that I don't use very often) and run them from there to free up space on my internal hard drive. Can this be done??? Thanks!!
Can be done, but beware it can be slow as molasses in
by R. Proffitt
- 12/27/06 12:28 PM
In reply to: External Hard Drives by Sallietwo
During a January in New England. USB 2.0 and Firewire drives transfer at a fraction of the speed of internal drives so only do this if you have a lot of patience.
Also, some thought they could plug the drive in and run the programs on another PC. Sorry, that rarely works with Windows applications.
Finally, there are those that thought "I'll put my stuff on this for safekeeping." They found out too late that just like any other hard disk it can go missing or be corrupted. Some had their only copy of pictures on said drive.
Please learn from others on this topic.
-> USB hard disks make a fine second copy.
-> Please avoid FAT32 volumes. Why? FAT32 is not damage resistant. A power outage or accidental unplug can make the content vanish.
Bob
Thank you.....
by Sallietwo - 12/27/06 12:47 PM In reply to: Can be done, but beware it can be slow as molasses in by R. Proffitt
I'll probably give it a try and see how it goes - Thanks again
A better way to go if your board supports SATA
by anmor - 12/28/06 7:11 PM In reply to: External Hard Drives by SallietwoPurchase a SATA external HD case with power supply and a separate SATA HD of the size you want to fit in it. SATA cases come with a backplate and lead that goes to your on board connection and a lead that goes from the backplate to the SATA case which allows you to use it the same as an internal drive but which can be turned off when not required, it also comes with a USB fitting and cable which will allow you to use it to copy your photos or other data to another computer.
As was previously mentioned do not try to run programs installed on this drive on another computer.
External SATA Case AUD $79, SATA HD from about AUD $100 depending on size if in USA do a search for local prices.
Hope this helps John
Thanks John!!
by Sallietwo - 12/30/06 9:18 AM In reply to: A better way to go if your board supports SATA by anmorI'll check it out. Sallie
If your internal HDD is space deprived...you're far better
by VAPCMD - 12/31/06 2:48 PM In reply to: External Hard Drives by Sallietwooff adding another internal HDD. It's always there and ready to go; it costs less; there's no external case, no cables or AC adapters; there's no starting and stopping the external HDD; there's no chance the drive will get dropped or fall off the desk; and it would certainly be faster for running programs or creating/storing data than with externals most are familiar with.
Even if the underlying system was a laptop, I'd rather replace the HDD for a larger HDD than have some programs running the internal HDD and others from an external. Can you do it..yup! The CONS greatly outweigh
the PROS.
Happy New Year !
VAPCMD
THANKS EVERYONE.... & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
by Sallietwo - 1/3/07 10:45 AM In reply to: If your internal HDD is space deprived...you're far better by VAPCMDAfter reading your advise and talking to a few people in our local shops I decided on a internal hard drive... I was shying away from it just because it was a "HARD DRIVE" and because I am not a computer genius (I know just enough to be dangerous). I have added ram, replaced my cd drive and floppy drive but adding a hard drive just scared me a bit.. Anyway I did it.... no problems and I am up an running.
Thanks again!
(NT) Good to hear and Thanks for the feedback !
by VAPCMD - 1/5/07 9:29 PM In reply to: THANKS EVERYONE.... & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! by SallietwoThey will run slower probably, but why not?
by droolin - 1/5/07 1:03 PM In reply to: External Hard Drives by SallietwoInstallations always ask you what path you want to install too. Ie, an external drive always is assigned a drive letter.
It would be like having a drive partitioned, partition a is 'drive c' and partition b is 'drive d'. Where do you wish to install, 'drive d'.
And the only reason I said it would run slower is because I am assuming that you are talking about usb drives. Usb is slower(I cant see it) then what ide/sata connections are.
Dan
Portable Apps
by ludedude25 - 1/5/07 3:01 PM In reply to: External Hard Drives by SallietwoThis site has what people need for running applications on external drives, thumb drives, etc. If they don't have it there probably working on a program that does it.
http://portableapps.com/
As always.... if it's important documents, pics, etc. back it up to a cd or dvd. If it's really important burn a couple copies! Give one to a trusted friend or family member.
It's a good rule that I should follow myself! LOL
Another way of using Hard drives
by bannerwaver - 1/5/07 3:13 PM In reply to: External Hard Drives by SallietwoNo one has mentioned fitting mobile racks.
I have one fitted and it was quite simple to install...I am no Einstein LOL....You can then just buy Hard drives and install directly into the mobile rack.....Also can be removed and used in any PC that also has a mobile rack fitted. You can even install your OS on a HD and use if you are unfortunate enough to crash...All programmes are ready to go.
No problems so far.
by au561 - 1/6/07 12:17 AM In reply to: External Hard Drives by SallietwoI have been using two usb external HDs for expanded storage for three years now, and haven't encountered any of the problems cited below. Access is just as fast as my internal drives, and I have no trouble running programs on them. Good luck.
I use mine for storage and VMWare
by pblanton - 1/6/07 8:33 AM In reply to: No problems so far. by au561I am a developer and I use my external drive for storage of development tool installers that I need from time to time, and for VMWare Images.
I usually do my development work on a VMWare image set up for the client's project. I can take the external drive with me and work on my laptop or my desktop without any hassles. and I usually run the VMWare image directly from the external drive.
My external drive has dual interfaces (eSata and USB2) and both interfaces are fast enough to run a VMWare image fine. The drive is a 300GB 7200 RPM Sata in an aluminum, Penguin Gear dual interface enclosure.
As far as backup, I use Subversion on a Windows Server 2003 machine set up for that purpose. All important files are checked into a repository and the repositories are backed up on DVD periodically. Tha is probably more than a standard user would want to set up, but it works for an uber-nerd like myself.
use external hard drive to free up space on main hard drive
by ridgerock - 3/20/08 3:54 PM In reply to: No problems so far. by au561I want to free up space on my main hard drive by moving programs and files to an external hard drive i.e.(video, photo and mp3 and their programs)Also NSTC vs fat I have followed the CNET instructions for changing, reformating my main drive to NCST but run into one problem. There is an additional question that is not addressed by CNET ? about volume any ideas. XP home on one box and XP pro on another. The external hard I have is the WD Passport 120g USB
This should be one of the DEADLY SINS.
by R. Proffitt - 3/20/08 3:57 PM
In reply to: use external hard drive to free up space on main hard drive by ridgerock
I can't count the posts in this forum where people move files to the external and then it fails. Please feel free to do that but only after you can lose that drive and still recover from backup.
Backup Bob
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