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Author Topic: internal vs external hard drive  (Read 3134 times)

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dede

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internal vs external hard drive
« on: December 24, 2006, 11:24:32 PM »
got an older compaq ipaq intel pentium III computer w/ 256 mb, 8455 mb hard drive & only 1.1 gb free space on c drive.  so i gotta have more space & am thinking about buying one of following external hard drives on sale: 1)Maxtor Shared Storage Drive w/ 200 gb for $93 or 2) a Maxtor Basics Personal Storage 3200 w/ 200 gb for $80, or see if I can remove the Seagate internal hard drive & install a larger hd.

anyone know if this computer is capable of running a newer faster internal hard drive or would i be better off adding 1 of the 2 external hard drives?  

also i read one gent's horror story about downloading maxtor's cd at:
http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1166019659/7#7
would the maxtor external hard drive work ok w/out downloading their cd?  thanks all & merry christmas!

Saviour

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2006, 07:54:11 AM »
dede...

If you plan on keeping this computer, you'd probably want to install a larger internal drive.  It just depends on how confident you are with your computer abilities.  Are you replacing the old drive and reinstalling the OS or are you JUST looking for more space?  If it's the latter, then you just might want to purchase an external drive.  They're easy to install and can be switched between other computers relatively easy.

As far as installing Maxtor's Backup utilities, that should be optional.  The only thing needed to make the external drive function is the driver.

Merry Christmas!
« Last Edit: December 25, 2006, 07:55:53 AM by Saviour »

GX1_Man

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #2 on: December 25, 2006, 11:21:31 AM »
And that older computer probably has USB 1.1 only so your transfer rates would be MUCH slower than using an internal drive. Of course you could add a PCI USB card, but then will that computer's power supply hold up to it?

I vote for the new internal drive.

dede

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2007, 02:57:32 PM »
GX1_Man:  you mentioned:
"And that older computer probably has USB 1.1 only so your transfer rates would be MUCH slower than using an internal drive. Of course you could add a PCI USB card, but then will that computer's power supply hold up to it?
 
I vote for the new internal drive."

how do i know if i have 1.1 usb on the current computer?  if it is 1.1 usb then you are saying that transfering from what to what would be slower?

i basically need more space & will eventually replace this older pc.  the computer shop was not sure a new internal hard drive would work in this older pc compaq ipaq intel pentium III computer w/ 256 mb, 8455 mb hard drive & only 1.1 gb free space on c drive.  do you guys think a newer internal hard drive would work ok in this pc?  thanks

WillyW



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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2007, 03:49:47 PM »
Quote
GX1_Man:  you mentioned:
"And that older computer probably has USB 1.1 only so your transfer rates would be MUCH slower than using an internal drive. Of course you could add a PCI USB card, but then will that computer's power supply hold up to it?
 
I vote for the new internal drive."

how do i know if i have 1.1 usb on the current computer?

Try:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,6085-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html

and download a little utility named    usbready.exe  .

Run that, and see what it calls your usb ports.

Tell GX1_man what it said.  
I think that if it reports your ports as    full speed    ,  then they are the slower 1.1 ports.    
But get that from him.

There is a way to find out without the use of a utility program like usbready.exe.
You'd have to go into your Device Manager and have a look.
This little program just makes it very easy.


Quote
if it is 1.1 usb then you are saying that transfering from what to what would be slower?

i basically need more space & will eventually replace this older pc.  the computer shop was not sure a new internal hard drive would work in this older pc compaq ipaq intel pentium III computer w/ 256 mb, 8455 mb hard drive & only 1.1 gb free space on c drive.  do you guys think a newer internal hard drive would work ok in this pc?  thanks

It should.   There may some limits.      
Recently I just put in a 40 gig  WD drive, into a 7+ year old machine.   Works fine.

.



GX1_Man

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2007, 10:08:55 AM »
Quote
how do i know if i have 1.1 usb on the current computer?  if it is 1.1 usb then you are saying that transfering from what to what would be slower?

If it is an iPaq and a P3, then it is USB 1.1

With a USB 1.1 connection data transfer speeds are significantly slower than a USB 2 connection. iPaq's had limiited expansion possibilities. I do not know if they even had a PCI expansion slot available, but if 1 is available you could get a PCI to USB card (about $10) and get 2-4 additional USB 2 ports.



Quote
i basically need more space & will eventually replace this older pc.  the computer shop was not sure a new internal hard drive would work in this older pc compaq ipaq intel pentium III computer w/ 256 mb, 8455 mb hard drive & only 1.1 gb free space on c drive.  do you guys think a newer internal hard drive would work ok in this pc?  thanks

The BIOS of the iPaq may have had a limitation that only smaller hard drives (10-20 gigs) could be used. You would have to check on the HP web site for specifics about the machine. Do you have PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse or USB ports only?
« Last Edit: January 07, 2007, 07:29:37 PM by GX1_Man »

patio

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2007, 02:41:07 PM »
And an internal won't go RAW on you...
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

dede

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2007, 07:49:03 PM »
  i currently have ms windows xp sp2 w/ 256 mb of ram memory that has a seagate internal hard drive (model st38710a), w/ a c drive total space of 7.85 gb.  the tower has no room to insert a second hard drive so i need to remove current internal hd & replace it w/ one that has a bit more space & speed.  i think my pc has a usb 1 so an external hd will be very slow & not much help.  how do i go about seeing what the BIOS on motherboard will recognize---ie how large a hd i could compatibly put on this computer, & make & model of a compatible internal hd that will be a bit faster & larger space?  thanks

GX1_Man

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2007, 04:11:56 AM »
Those iPaq's had small hard drive (I think 10 gig. max ) and I seem to recall there was some sort of BIOS limtation on the size they could accomodate, although most drives have their own software to overcome this on older machines.

I could be wrong on this, but you may want to google for info regarding this. These were designed as basic corporate workstations with limited options.

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2001pmc/pr2001022001.html

dede

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2007, 04:58:08 PM »
i tried to google & fin d info about what kind of updated internal HD could be used in the tower but had no luck.  can you suggest a forum wher e i could get help with this?  thanks, dede

dede

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2007, 03:15:52 PM »
can anyone help me with what the bios limitation is on my older pc & what models internal hd i could put in the tower that woul.d run my pc w/ a little more space?  how do i check the bios limitations?  i don't have $ to buy a new pc at this time & need more space as i currently only have about 1 gb free space on the c drive.  my current internal hd says it is a seagate model ST38410A w/ 8455 MB.  the pc is a MS windows XP SP2 256 MB Ram.  thanks, dede

WillyW



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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2007, 04:30:01 PM »
Quote
can anyone help me with what the bios limitation is on my older pc & what models internal hd i could put in the tower that woul.d run my pc w/ a little more space?  how do i check the bios limitations?  

They might be able to use some more information about your bios.
One way to get some, is to use a free utility program named Everest.
You can download it here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

You can have it produce a nice plain text file, with all sorts of info about your computer.   Save it.   Text search it, looking for    bios
and you'll find the bios manufacturer name,  and the date of the bios,   at least.

Quote
i don't have $ to buy a new pc at this time

I know that feeling!

Quote
& need more space as i currently only have about 1 gb free space on the c drive.  my current internal hd says it is a seagate model ST38410A w/ 8455 MB.  the pc is a MS windows XP SP2 256 MB Ram.  thanks, dede

Although this doesn't prove anything,  it might give you some hope and perspective:
This computer I'm using right now operates under Win98SE.
AMD K-6.   That is equivalent to Pentium.    Not II or III,  just Pentium
The date on the bios is 1999.    I just checked the report I made with Everest.    (The bios is AMI)

What I'm saying is that I suspect mine is much older than yours.

Recently,  I too needed to jockey some things around.   Had an 8G drive.   Bought a used Western Digital 40G drive.    I wondered if my system would see perhaps only 32G of it.
It didn't.... it sees it all.   :)
However,  the   Auto detect   function of the bios does not like the new drive -  it just locks up.
I simply entered the drive parameters manually,  and it works fine.

I'm hoping somebody else, with lots more experience than I,  will jump in here and comment about setting drive parameters manually.
There are limits, etc.
Fumbling through notes here,  I believe my settings were:
Cylinders = 16368        Heads = 16      Sectors = 63
and that is the same as the 8G drive!    Again,  it will take somebody else here to explain how that can be.

If you try to go with a very large - by comparison - drive....  over 137G,   then I would not be surprised if you hit the wall and could not 'see' all your drive.
I have nothing more than a gut feeling,  but I'm thinking you too can probably use at least a 40G drive.

.



dede

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2007, 07:35:22 PM »
thanks willy, i went to the majorgeeks website link you provided & wasn't sure which hotlink i needed to find out the info about my bios.  can you help navigate me on their webpage?  thanks!  dede

patio

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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2007, 09:16:04 PM »
The link is to DLoad Everest Home...after DLoading, install it and have it generate a report. Save the report to a text file and cut and paste it to post it here...
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

soybean



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Re: internal vs external hard drive
« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2007, 08:20:42 AM »
dede, go here and buy one:  Internal Hard Drives - Capacity : 40GB.  Even if you can only utilize 32GB out of 40GB, you'll still have much more space and a faster drive.  And, when you do get a better system, you could pull this hard drive and use it in the newer system or get an external enclosure to put it in, thereby creating an external hard drive with it.  Or, you could install it as an internal hard drive in a newer system.

Even if your BIOS will not recognize the full capacity of a 40GB hard drive, most hard drive manufacturers provide "overlay" software which allows utilization of the full capacity.  I believe this requires partitioning but there's nothing wrong with that.