is there any way to use an external hd, like an internal hd?

S.T. Extremely liberal interpretation of my remarks. I didn't  say  "it mostly works," i said "my personal experience has been nothing but a positive one with externals" +"never a problem yet in some cases over 5 years of use on some externals." Both of which i suggest are far removed from the words that you are trying to ascribe to me with you interpretation. At the moment of contributing to this thread i am on a laptop with no external connected so i don't have access to reference what programs i have on an external. When i next plug one into a computer i will take a look. Generally they are programs i seldom use but like to have them (but not taking up storage on computer internal HDD's) . Sometimes for the instance of their utilization it is necessary to install them on any given computer from the .exe (or the install icon) file and then use it. But on completion i then uninstall it from said computer but NOT the portable and still available the next time of need.This would not be my practice for often used programs such as "office" truenorth
P.S. My curiosity had been peaked and i wondered what in fact i did have in the way of programs available on an external (found as well i should do some housecleaning) on the one i am looking at. It is a 250 gb (previously internal) now in a case about equally partitioned into a "G" and "H" drive. In the programs folder on "G' there are 22 programs there on "H" there are 34. Now that i have determined their existence i need to get rid of some (not for space requirements) simply never will use them again. I tend to monitor space on my internals and try to keep it under control but not so much on the externals.

[Moderator]

Look, let's try to make this as simple as possible:

1) As far as the system is concerned you can use an external drive to do the same things as an internal drive.

2) External drives are not (in my opinion) created to be used on a daily basis. I only connect mine when needed. Having said that, see # 1 above.

3) If you need another drive to be used on a regular basis - or more space - I suggest you either add another internal drive or replace one of your internal drives with a larger one.

External drives are not (in my opinion) created to be used on a daily basis. I only connect mine when needed. Having said that, see # 1 above.

My Seagate external USB hard drive has been running about 18 hours a day since July 2007 and I see no reason (so far) to worry about it. A shoddy badly cooled enclosure with a cheaply made wall wart PSU might be another matter. Given the right environment, a hard drive doesn't care where it is mounted. That's just my take anyhow.

To add a bit more tho the fire.
Removable or external storage presents an issue for the OS. When the PC is turned on, an external device may not be ready. This creates a inflict if the strut up teaks include a reference(s)  to data or programs on the external device.

Also, having a PATA device run into a USB adapter adds another level of complexity to the system. This was documented my Microsoft. Presumably the issue was resolved some time ago. At that time a USB storage device, a PATA hard drive, could cause a stack overflow. The issue was not really the drive itself, but the use of the USB subsystem over a network. Not enough stack space.

The greatest danger of external devices is that they  get unplugged at the wrong time. But that should be self-evident.

Geek=I guess you changed your mind about "i give up" . I too after my last post had pretty well decided to do the same until your last post of 08:03 PM when i felt obliged to draw your attention to what i had said earlier " isn't my intention to imply that externals don't present the possibilities of issues which in some cases can be unique to them as opposed to internals.However as with anything if you take the time to inform yourself as to what those issues may be and govern your use accordingly ". I certainly see and appreciate the differences of opinions being presented on this subject. I hope it is serving to assist the O/P and not creating confusion.truenorth
P.S. Don't really know if it is the "best" procedure but i never turn on an external UNTIL the computer to which it is attached is fully done doing all it's stuff.

Fair enough.
BTW, I use externals to backup my laptop. Because using the LAN for backup is really slow. Once in awhile I have a little trouble with the external drives.  I just live with it. But if I was a guru in a commercial enterprise, I would try to ban out-of-the-case storage devices unless they are screwed to the desk. 

To the OP. Go ahead. Use Ethe externals.

So, if I am following this, it is better to have an internal drive, but since I already have the external drive, go ahead and us it. 
Thanks for all your help.
You guys are wonderful!
I love this site   

You are very welcome.Hope to see more of you.truenorth

[Moderator]

So, if I am following this, it is better to have an internal drive, but since I already have the external drive, go ahead and us it. 

In a nutshell, I think you've got it - at least that's my opinion and advice

I was wondering if you can use an external hard drive like a regular hard drive? What I want to do is play my games on an external hard drive. The hard drive on my computer is getting pretty full.  And I would like to keep more than one game going at a time.
I have a Dell XPS 630i, Windows XP Pro.

    Talk about bottle neck's depending in you USB port's 1.0,2.0,3.0.. your slowing down ...
If you want speed get PCI Raid card.. It is independant so free's you mobo.. 

These statements are both nonsense.

External HD needs to be in a proper case. From the OP, it is a drive he received as a gift, thus it is not a home brew gadget.

But there are others issues with external drives that have not been duly addressed here. If practical, the drive should be inside the case and on a SATA or PATA interface.

Another issue is when the drive is disconnected without doing the 'safely remove drive' request. A write error may corrupt part of the file system and start a chain of errors. Not very often, but even once is too much.