External hard drives

[speleobat2]

O.K., so I'm lost in the woods again! Nothing new about that!

I'm seriously considering getting an external hard drive to store my photos and family tree files on so I went looking first on eBay then on the Gateway site and found way too many options. I have a laptop with Windows Vista. Can anyone give me a short course in external hard drives? Please!

USB? Firewire? Portable? Desktop?

Help!!!

Carol

[Currie]

Hello Carol,

Not all computers have Firewire whereas they all have USB so that is probably a safer bet. The current version, USB2, is about the same speed as Firewire. You’ll also probably find it easier to find a USB version when you go to buy one.

I’ve heard that external drives don’t last as long as internal ones. This could be partly because they tend to get rougher treatment if they get carried around and is also possibly due to heat issues if they are kept running for a long time because they aren’t necessarily cooled as well as an internal drive. I’d be inclined to just plug it in as you need it and definitely look on them as a fragile item.

External drives are just a box containing a standard 3½ inch Desktop or 2½ inch Notebook drive. Some of the external drives I’ve seen advertised are quite large things with big feet etc and maybe built in fans and probably meant to stay on the desk and plugged in and running more or less permanently. They aren’t all particularly portable and sometimes possibly the same end would be served by installing an extra drive in the computer although this is probably not an option for notebooks. As far as I know the large 3½ inch variety requires a separate power supply.

Those containing a 2½ inch Notebook drive are much smaller and more portable. These drives tend to spin at a slower speed (as do those in notebooks) and this reduces the heat risk. This is the sort of external drive that would probably appeal most to someone who likes Notebook computers. They all seem to be powered by the USB cable but may have to be plugged directly into the computer and not into a separate hub.

But to cut a long story short you would probably be better off opting for the small portable USB type. It’s brought up by a 2.5 EXTERNAL HARD USB Ebay search although some are just empty cases. In theory they should be recognised as an additional drive when you plug them in, even with Vista, but it might be safer to check if they specify that they work with Vista. There’s always an element of risk that external devices just wont work with a particular operating system or in a particular computer.

Someone who has experience with these smaller drives may be able to let you know how theirs worked for them.

Hope this helps,
Alan

[Moray_Lass]

Hi Carol

I back everything that Alan say. I have both 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch external drives, mostly from backup. The 3.5 has an external power supply and the 2.5 is powered from the USB port. I don't have them plugged in all the time to either my pc or laptop, just as needed. My 3.5 is made by Freecom and gets rid of its heat though the casing by design - so it does get very hot to touch. It does have an on/off switch which not all external drives have, and which the lack off is often a complaint in reviews. The 2.5 has nothing, but doesn't run as hot, as Alan says.

Oh and not all of them work with Windows 98, the enclosure I bought to make my 2.5 external drive came with W98 drivers and didn't work. And I have heard of others which don't worth with Vista, so keep and eye on that.

Which to get? If you don't plan to take data around I would get a 3.5, they come in bigger hard disk sizes than the 2.5. But I have heard tales of 'new' externals dying, so I wouldn't make it your only source. 2.5 are neat and easy to carry, and laptop hard disk come with additional shock proofing that 3.5 HDD don't, but I still wouldn't throw them about. ;-)

I hope that helps some, it is a tough decision.

[Russell]

Thanks Maggie and Alan

I had been just about to put up a post almost identical to Carol's.

My computer died and because recent times have been hectic for me I had not run my usual back-ups . Panic Panic

After some head scratching I discovered how to open up the BIOS and found that for some unaccountable reason it had decided to try to boot up from my slave (secondary) drive which, of course, wouldn't work.
Quick re-set and evrything was OK again.
I was lucky. If it had been a hard drive failure I would have lost everything.
The Moral is back-up often onto a safe, separate store because it could happen to you AT ANY TIME

Russell
PS My new drive will be a USB 2.5 with Vista compatibility.

[speleobat2]

Thanks everyone! I love the advice I get on TS because it's practical!

Now I can print out what you said and then go looking at pictures and know what I'm seeing. I'm not planning to carry it around, but the smaller size is appealing also because my desk is usually covered with print outs from my family tree reseach--and anything else that I put down for "just a minute".

Thanks a million again!

Carol

[mallog]

Thanks for asking that question Carol.

I had a moment last night when my Family Tree file became corrupted for some reason. Fortunately I had just backed up the day before but I definitely want an external hard drive now.