Art Coleman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am thinking about purchasing an external hard drive for my home computer,
> primarily to store video clips and photos.  I have a few questions to ask
> before I decide to make the purchase.
>

From your questiuons, it seems you are unclear about what an additional hard
drive is or does.

> (1)   Is it easy to transfer files from the primary hard drive (Drive 1) to
> the external hard drive, or visa versa?

If it is trult just a hard drive, then transferring files is easy because it
will just show up as another drive letter on your computer. You can use Windows
Explorer to copy files by drag and drop.

> (2)   Does the external hard drive require an operating system in order to
> receive files from the primary hard drive?

No. It is just another drive letter. It can be purely for data.

> (3)   What is the best port on the computer in which to connect the external
> drive?

Now, this is trickier. Your computer most likely has IDE drives in it now. It is
not very practical to attach IDE drives in an external box because there are
limitations in cable length. It may be possible to add one internally depending
on your computer. (Which you gave no details. Model, operation system, etc. are
very helpful to let us determine your options).

If there is no support for another drive, then an option might be to replace
your existing drive with a larger one. 40Gb and larger drives are becoming
common, and not that expensive. If your system is new enough (a couple years old
or less), it should support these large drives. It would certainly be cheaper
than trying to figure out an external solution.

It may sound like I am not advocating an external drive, and there are good
reasons. You will be limited to using a parallel or USB port for an external
drive. These are somewhat more costly, and suffer from poor performance since
the interface is not nearly as fast as IDE.

> (4)   Will the external hard drive require a cooling fan?

You would not want to buy a bare drive for an external solution, you would buy a
complete solution based upon the interface you want. Such a solution would have
everything including an enclosure with power supply and fan (if necessary).
Again though, if at all possible, investigate internal options.

> (5)   Is it easy to share both hard drives on the same monitor?   For example,
> can the monitor screen be partitioned to receive the OS from the external
> drive on one-half and the OS from the primary hard drive, on the other half?

This doesn't make sense. There would not be two computers because you have two
drives. Rather, one computer with an additional resource, that is, another drive
letter.

> (6)  Do you have any suggestions on good/inexpensive external hard drive
> products?
>

One thing to ask is if you want removeable, or permanent storage? But I would
check out www.outpost.com.

Or take your computer to a local shop, and have them check to see what your
options actually are.


--
Russ Poffenberger               Engineering Specialist
Schlumberger Technologies ATE   DOMAIN: [log in to unmask]
150 Baytech Drive
San Jose, Ca. 95134             Voice: (408)586-6718  FAX: (408)586-4675

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