Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (
More info?)
I also agree with Art.
If you have a computer with USB 1.1 ports, the only thing to remember is to
plug in and turn on the drive again before powering on the computer so when
the computer boots it will find the drive without any problems. This is
really only necessary when the drive is a USB 2.0 drive (which yours
probably is) and the USB port on the computer is a 1.1 port (which may not
be the case on your computer). The computer will "complain" if you turn on
or plug in a 2.0 device on a 1.1 port in an already booted computer.
Nothing bad would happen but saves the complaint message.
Glad all is working for you.
What format did you use on your new external (refer to my earlier message?)
"Art" <noonehere@longone.net> wrote in message
news:%23v68kbXrEHA.2900@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Debbie:
>
> Yes, turn off the power switch on your USB external hard drive after
you've
> finished with the drive. The switch also powers up the enclosed hard drive
> in addition to powering up any fan in the unit. And there's no need to run
> the hard drive after its work has been done.
>
> Art
>
> "DebbieG" <debbieg@accessus-REMOVE-THIS-.net> wrote in message
> news:OdV$TKXrEHA.3252@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> > In case you wanted follow-up, I purchased an internal hard drive and an
> > external enclosure. I installed it today and it works great. Now all I
> > have to do is back-up my files.
> >
> > One question ... I bought an AMS Venus DS 5.25 in Aluminum External
> > Enclosure. It has an on/off switch on it. When I switch this on, the
fan
> > runs. This may seem like a dumb question but do I need to switch this
off
> > when I turn off the PC? I'm assuming that I should only turn on the fan
> > when I'm using it since it's purpose is for back-up. The instructions
> > that
> > came with the enclosure made no mention of this. Just curious.
> >
> > Thanks again!
> >
> >
> > "LVTravel" <none@not.com> wrote in message
> > news:e46p8T%23qEHA.3760@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > Any time.
> >
> > "DebbieG" <debbieg@accessus-REMOVE-THIS-.net> wrote in message
> > news:%23INVQz1qEHA.3840@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> >> LVTravel,
> >>
> >> Thank you for taking the time to give me such a detailed answer. I
> >> really
> >> appreciate it. Now I know what I need to know in order to make a
> > decision.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Debbie
> >>
> >>
> >> "LVTravel" <none@not.com> wrote in message
> >> news:%239yL$jzqEHA.332@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> >> DebbieG, to answer your first question. If you open the case and see
an
> >> open 3.5" bay (just like the one that the current hard drive is in
looks
> >> like) you can install internally without problem. If there isn't a
3.5"
> > bay
> >> go the external route. USB is fine. I have used XPCGear.com (I have
no
> >> connection to them other than as a consumer) a couple of times and they
> > seem
> >> to beat other's prices. I checked them out again and something like
this
> >> looks good:
http://www.xpcgear.com/extremepcgear/caseue705blk.html
> >>
> >> For your second question. If you are planning on swapping around on
> >> different systems, an external drive is necessary unless you want to
open
> >> the system each time you want to move it.
> >>
> >> For your third question. If the new drive is formatted as a FAT 32
drive
> >> you would be able to use it in either a Win XP or 9X system (if
external
> > one
> >> that can use USB). If you format the drive as an NTFS drive (this
format
> > is
> >> only available on Win NT type systems (NT, 2000 or XP) you would not be
> > able
> >> to use it on any Windows 9X (95, 98 or ME) system. If you want to use
> >> the
> >> full size of the drive, format it in FAT 32 on the Win 98 system. Win
XP
> >> won't be able to format the drive to its full capacity as XP limits its
> > FAT
> >> 32 format to 32 Gigabyte size.
> >>
> >> If your 98 system is not 98 Second Edition you may have problems
getting
> >> some external drives to work on USB. Make sure that they specifically
> >> include drivers for Win 98 (XP systems don't normally need drivers as
> >> they
> >> are built into XP).
> >>
> >> As someone else said in this thread, backing up just data is entirely
> >> different than backing up the operating system. If you are going to
back
> > up
> >> data, the backup programs in XP and also 98 are fairly good but one
can't
> > be
> >> used on the other's program. You can purchase a commercial backup
> > program
> >> which will work on 98 & XP. If you are going to want to backup the
> >> entire
> >> drive (including the operating system (OS)) you will need a program
that
> >> will duplicate the partition on the backup device. The problem is that
> > not
> >> all of those programs will read a USB drive without the full OS
> >> installed.
> >>
> >> Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.
> >>
> >> Good luck on your project.
> >> "DebbieG" <debbieg@accessus-REMOVE-THIS-.net> wrote in message
> >> news:Ok1gvymqEHA.556@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> >> > LVTravel,
> >> >
> >> > Is there something special inside my system that I should look for
> >> > where
> > I
> >> > would put the extra hard drive? As you can probably tell I'm not
much
> > of
> >> a
> >> > hardware person -- I don't open the thing unless I have to.
> >> >
> >> > To play devil's advocate ... what if I want to put what is on the 2nd
> > hard
> >> > drive onto another PC? Wouldn't it be easier for it to be portable
or
> > can
> >> I
> >> > just put it inside another PC and access it that way?
> >> >
> >> > Another question ... I have another PC with Windows 98. If I have a
> >> > portable external hard drive, could I use it to back-up both PCs?
> >> >
> >> > I appreciate your help.
> >> >
> >> > Debbie
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "LVTravel" <none@not.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:e6BDpKmqEHA.1992@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> >> > DebbieG, if you have physical space inside your system I would
> >> > recommend
> >> > placing the drive in the computer as a slave drive. The instructions
> > that
> >> > come with the drive should explain how. You will then be able to
> >> > backup
> >> to
> >> > the drive using any of the software that Yves recommended without the
> >> > problem of attempting to get the external drive to work if XP
crashes.
> >> You
> >> > could then boot with the floppy drive (created when you install the
> > backup
> >> > software) and copy the drive image/partition back to the main drive.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "DebbieG" <debbieg@accessus-REMOVE-THIS-.net> wrote in message
> >> > news:Or55folqEHA.3428@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> >> > > Yves,
> >> > >
> >> > > Thanks so much for answering my questions.
> >> > >
> >> > > I found a 120 GB internal hard drive for $99.94. I understand that
I
> >> can
> >> > > buy a hard drive enclosure to use it externally. How do I know
which
> >> > > enclosure to buy? I've done some searching but I don't know what
to
> >> look
> >> > > for.
> >> > >
> >> > > TIA,
> >> > > Debbie
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > "Yves Leclerc" <yleclercNOSPAM@maysys.com> wrote in message
> >> > > news:e9IHabjqEHA.1296@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> >> > > Most Pentium 4 motherboards have USB built into it, so you may not
> > need
> >> to
> >> > > buy a USB adapter. Check with the motherboard manual/manufacturer.
> >> > > Firewire is an add-on adapter and is normally used in digital
> >> > > editing.
> >> > > However, if your motherboard does have USB 2.0 ports, you may want
to
> >> buy
> >> > a
> >> > > USB 2.0 add-on adapter board.
> >> > >
> >> > > 8 MB of cache is way better than 2 MB. However, since you are
using
> > it
> >> as
> >> > > backup, you may not need it. 8 MB would be useful if you were to
> > using
> >> > the
> >> > > drive as your main drive.
> >> > >
> >> > > The formatting service is optional. You should have all the tools
in
> >> > > Windows, or with the drive, to format it yourself.
> >> > >
> >> > > As for the size of hard drive, I usually recommend getting the
exact
> >> > > capacity that your main hard drive(s) are in total.
> >> > > If you have one drive: the same size as your main drive
> >> > >
> >> > > If more than one: the total capacity of all hard
drives
> > put
> >> > > together.
> >> > >
> >> > > The software is VERY important. You can not just "copy" the
drive(s)
> > to
> >> > the
> >> > > external unit. XP's utilities do not allow a complete copy of the
> > hard
> >> > > drive. You will need to locate a drive imaging utility. The two
> >> popular
> >> > > ones are:
> >> > >
> >> > > 1) Symantec Ghost
> >> > >
> >> > > 2) Drive Image -- now owned by Symantec also.
> >> > >
> >> > > There are other similar utilities but I have no experience with
them.
> >> > These
> >> > > two utilities work quite well.
> >> > >
> >> > > Y.
> >> > >
> >> > > "DebbieG" <debbieg@accessus-REMOVE-THIS-.net> wrote in message
> >> > > news:%23iYt2MjqEHA.1272@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> >> > > >I have a Pentium 4, 2.53 GHz, 512 MB RAM, XP Home Edition. I am
> >> wanting
> >> > to
> >> > > > purchase an external hard drive in order to back-up my hard drive
> >> before
> >> > > > installing SP2. But I am so confused...
> >> > > >
> >> > > > I am seeing USB and Fire Wire. I'm assuming I need to buy USB
but
> > not
> >> > > > sure.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > I am seeing 2 MB and 8 MB cache. I'm assuming that 8 MB is
better.
> >> But
> >> > > > if
> >> > > > I'm just going to use this for back-up purposes does it really
> > matter?
> >> > > >
> >> > > > I am seeing "Hard Drive Format Service". Do I really need for
them
> > to
> >> > do
> >> > > > this?
> >> > > >
> >> > > > My used space on my hard drive is less than 10 GB. How big a
drive
> >> > should
> >> > > > I
> >> > > > buy to back-up?
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Do I need to purchase special back-up software or just simply
copy
> > my
> >> > hard
> >> > > > drive?
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Of course, I'm not wanting to spend a whole lot of money on this
> >> because
> >> > > > I'm
> >> > > > going to use it just for back-up purposes. So, any suggestions
on
> > the
> >> > > > best
> >> > > > place to buy this?
> >> > > >
> >> > > > TIA,
> >> > > > Debbie
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
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