[Answered] External hard drive

charles · 04-19-2006

As some of you know I am pretty new to all this,but as my PC has been crashing like crazy for some time now I thought I would buy an external hard drive and transfer all I need to keep onto it, I could I imagine leave those things on the new HD. and then reinstall windows on the old drive,would that work ok? also looking at external drives,some seem as though they have a mains adaptor and a usb,whilst others only mention a usb,could somebody please explain why this is.?..................wil it be easy for me to transfer things like the whole of my e-mail prog.which is incredimail,etc.

CyFanate · 04-19-2006

A external harddisk is always handy for making backups: not only for making a backup when you need to reinstall the disk.

You've have to ask yourself a few questions like:

First: - How many documents, music and pictures etcetera do I need to backup. How many gigs is this all.

0 This is important to determine how many gig your harddrive need to be. You can buy a expensive 300 gig external harddisk, but when you only need to backup, say about, 5 gig, that's waste of many

Second: Do I want to buy a expensive brand, or am I satisfied with a cheap b-brand. Both has advantages and disadvantages. When you buy a expensive brand, you are sure you buy quality with, most of the times, a good guerantuee. The cheaper ones does not always offer a good guerentue. On the other side: when you need the querentee, you're lost your files anyhow, so for the safety of your files it's not important.

Third: Which brand harddisk is inside the external case. Brand X-Ker (doesn't exist, but I use it as an example) can be very expensive but use Hitachi harddisks, while brand Y-Ker uses Maxtor. Don't look @ the brands of the external cases, pay attention to the brands of the harddisks themselves (this doesn't mean the external cases has to be of a good quality, but the brand of the harddisk is more important.

Last: Do I have a 1.1 USB or a 2.0 USB Port on my computer. When you have 1.1, you need to buy a USB 2.0 PCI card. In the Netherlands they cost about 10 euro. I don't know the price in the UK. This question is very important for the transferspeed.

P.s. this last one is not important for buying the harddisk, but is just a point where you have to pay attention to.

charles · 04-19-2006

Originally Posted by CyFanate

A external harddisk is always handy for making backups: not only for making a backup when you need to reinstall the disk.

You've have to ask yourself a few questions like:

First: - How many documents, music and pictures etcetera do I need to backup. How many gigs is this all.

0 This is important to determine how many gig your harddrive need to be. You can buy a expensive 300 gig external harddisk, but when you only need to backup, say about, 5 gig, that's waste of many

Second: Do I want to buy a expensive brand, or am I satisfied with a cheap b-brand. Both has advantages and disadvantages. When you buy a expensive brand, you are sure you buy quality with, most of the times, a good guerantuee. The cheaper ones does not always offer a good guerentue. On the other side: when you need the querentee, you're lost your files anyhow, so for the safety of your files it's not important.

Third: Which brand harddisk is inside the external case. Brand X-Ker (doesn't exist, but I use it as an example) can be very expensive but use Hitachi harddisks, while brand Y-Ker uses Maxtor. Don't look @ the brands of the external cases, pay attention to the brands of the harddisks themselves (this doesn't mean the external cases has to be of a good quality, but the brand of the harddisk is more important.

Last: Do I have a 1.1 USB or a 2.0 USB Port on my computer. When you have 1.1, you need to buy a USB 2.0 PCI card. In the Netherlands they cost about 10 euro. I don't know the price in the UK. This question is very important for the transferspeed.

P.s. this last one is not important for buying the harddisk, but is just a point where you have to pay attention to.

Thanks for the advice,how do I tell whether I have a 1.1 usb or a 2 ?

CyFanate · 04-19-2006

Quite simpel. Which motherboard do you have?

charles · 04-19-2006

Originally Posted by CyFanate

Quite simpel. Which motherboard do you have?

I haven't a clue,enlighten me,I am only a learner ?

CyFanate · 04-19-2006

*lightens you*

Uhm... okey... maybe I dont even have to know it... How old is your computer?

joe5 · 04-20-2006

You can use this app to see what motherboard you have:

http://www.alexnolan.net/software/SysSpec.exe

04-19-2006	#1
charles Silver Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheshire Posts: 127	[Answered] External hard drive As some of you know I am pretty new to all this,but as my PC has been crashing like crazy for some time now I thought I would buy an external hard drive and transfer all I need to keep onto it, I could I imagine leave those things on the new HD. and then reinstall windows on the old drive,would that work ok? also looking at external drives,some seem as though they have a mains adaptor and a usb,whilst others only mention a usb,could somebody please explain why this is.?..................wil it be easy for me to transfer things like the whole of my e-mail prog.which is incredimail,etc.

04-19-2006	#2
CyFanate Bronze Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dieren (near. Arnhem) Posts: 75	A external harddisk is always handy for making backups: not only for making a backup when you need to reinstall the disk. You've have to ask yourself a few questions like: First: - How many documents, music and pictures etcetera do I need to backup. How many gigs is this all. 0 This is important to determine how many gig your harddrive need to be. You can buy a expensive 300 gig external harddisk, but when you only need to backup, say about, 5 gig, that's waste of many Second: Do I want to buy a expensive brand, or am I satisfied with a cheap b-brand. Both has advantages and disadvantages. When you buy a expensive brand, you are sure you buy quality with, most of the times, a good guerantuee. The cheaper ones does not always offer a good guerentue. On the other side: when you need the querentee, you're lost your files anyhow, so for the safety of your files it's not important. Third: Which brand harddisk is inside the external case. Brand X-Ker (doesn't exist, but I use it as an example) can be very expensive but use Hitachi harddisks, while brand Y-Ker uses Maxtor. Don't look @ the brands of the external cases, pay attention to the brands of the harddisks themselves (this doesn't mean the external cases has to be of a good quality, but the brand of the harddisk is more important. Last: Do I have a 1.1 USB or a 2.0 USB Port on my computer. When you have 1.1, you need to buy a USB 2.0 PCI card. In the Netherlands they cost about 10 euro. I don't know the price in the UK. This question is very important for the transferspeed. P.s. this last one is not important for buying the harddisk, but is just a point where you have to pay attention to. __________________ Life is not hard. It's just hard cause we're trying to understand the reason of all this ****.

04-19-2006	#3
charles Silver Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheshire Posts: 127	Originally Posted by CyFanate A external harddisk is always handy for making backups: not only for making a backup when you need to reinstall the disk. You've have to ask yourself a few questions like: First: - How many documents, music and pictures etcetera do I need to backup. How many gigs is this all. 0 This is important to determine how many gig your harddrive need to be. You can buy a expensive 300 gig external harddisk, but when you only need to backup, say about, 5 gig, that's waste of many Second: Do I want to buy a expensive brand, or am I satisfied with a cheap b-brand. Both has advantages and disadvantages. When you buy a expensive brand, you are sure you buy quality with, most of the times, a good guerantuee. The cheaper ones does not always offer a good guerentue. On the other side: when you need the querentee, you're lost your files anyhow, so for the safety of your files it's not important. Third: Which brand harddisk is inside the external case. Brand X-Ker (doesn't exist, but I use it as an example) can be very expensive but use Hitachi harddisks, while brand Y-Ker uses Maxtor. Don't look @ the brands of the external cases, pay attention to the brands of the harddisks themselves (this doesn't mean the external cases has to be of a good quality, but the brand of the harddisk is more important. Last: Do I have a 1.1 USB or a 2.0 USB Port on my computer. When you have 1.1, you need to buy a USB 2.0 PCI card. In the Netherlands they cost about 10 euro. I don't know the price in the UK. This question is very important for the transferspeed. P.s. this last one is not important for buying the harddisk, but is just a point where you have to pay attention to. Thanks for the advice,how do I tell whether I have a 1.1 usb or a 2 ?

04-19-2006	#4
CyFanate Bronze Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dieren (near. Arnhem) Posts: 75	Quite simpel. Which motherboard do you have? __________________ Life is not hard. It's just hard cause we're trying to understand the reason of all this ****.

04-19-2006	#5
charles Silver Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cheshire Posts: 127	Originally Posted by CyFanate Quite simpel. Which motherboard do you have? I haven't a clue,enlighten me,I am only a learner ?

04-20-2006	#7
joe5 Elite Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 9,025	You can use this app to see what motherboard you have: http://www.alexnolan.net/software/SysSpec.exe __________________ - PCHF Team. - (NL) - Mal-ware Eradicator! - - Online AV Scans - HijackThis! - Bootdisk.com - ATF-Cleaner - Stinger - 'Prework' - 'Afterwork' - PCHF Rules - Donate to PCHF. And get>

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