I am looking at buying an external hard drive and have a few questions.?

Question

1) I have noticed none seem to be made buy companies I have heard of. Is there any brands I should look for or avoid? Is there any reason not to buy the cheapest?
2) Do they all need their own power supply? Can you still use them at all if they are not plugged in?
3) If they stop working will there still be a way to get your files?
4) How hard are they to set up and can you set them up on more than one P.C at a time?

I'm not a completely technology illiterate but just thought I'd be as comprehensive as possible since I'm taking the trouble to ask random strangers for advice and you all are being kind enough to give it, so anything you have to offer is appreciated.

Thanks.

Answer 1

1) WD Digital seems to be quite reliable. If anything avoid Seagate.

All manufacturers though, all have "lemons" once in a while, so make sure read some reviews on the product (via Amazon for e.g) before you buy.



2) "Pocket" sized drives (2.5 inches) do not require external power. They work once plugged into a USB port.



All external 3.5 inch hard drives require a power supply -- and nope, without the power cord plugged in, the HDD will not work. USB doesn't provide enough power for 3.5 inch HDDs to work.



3) Yes and no. If the drive dies due to mechanical failure, there is no hope of retrieving the files off it. Unless you bring the drive to a data recovery expert.



If the drive is corrupted, you may still be able to recover most of the data using software.



4) Hard drives are plug and play -- use them as you would with a USB flash stick. Not hard to use.

Answer 2

1) As far as I'm concerned, brands don't mean a lot. If you do buy a hard drive, I'd recommend you buying online just so you can read reviews of the product. There are a lot of generic brands out there, it would actually be easy to create a white list of brands than it is to create a blacklist. Generally, some of the big reliable brands are Seagate, Western Digital (WD), Samsung, and Fujitsu.



This drive got great reviews, and name brand (Seagate), and plenty of storage (500GB)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148354



2) Most external hard drives connect through the USB 2.0 interface. They usually connect through two USB ports actually. The combined USB ports provide enough power for the external drives, so you DO NOT need any external power supply.



3) I doubt there is a way to retrieve files from a dead, but generally drives work until they are exposed to excessive force, or it may day after several years, but by then you'd probably be waiting to buy a new drive anyway.



4) They are not difficult to set up at all. I believe most are plug and play. If you have ever used a flash drive (aka thumb drive, pen drive, USB drive, or USB stick), I'd imagine the process being very similar. Portable, easy to install, and you can set it up on multiple computers, normally taking only seconds to install/mount per computer. It's actually an ideal way to transfer large amounts of data between computers, or to make system restore points.

Answer 3

1 Buy Seagate or Western Digital, you may not know these brands, but they are HUGE.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE51H0FS20090218 "Seagate and Western Digital combined hold a roughly 60 percent hard disk drive (HDD) market share."

2 Most do, all the slower ones run on power over a USB cable, but it's not worth it. If you really dont want a seperate power supply, buy a USB flash drive http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=522&Tpk=Flash%20Drive

3 Yes, but it is VERY EXPENSIVE and usually not worth it. Always back up important stuff to a DVD or online service.

4 They are fairly simple, just plug it in, go to my computer, right click the drive, select format, then choose NTFS and the defaults for that. No, only one computer at a time unless your feeling fancy and get a network accessible storage Device (NAS), but those are expensive and complicated for a new user, so just go with one of the links below.



See link

Answer 4

The actual hard drives should be either Seagate or Western Digital as they are to two main ones but the brand of the case doesnt matter two much, good cheap ones are Maxtor or Zynet, just as long as the actual hard drive inside is Seagate or Western Digital you should be safe.



You can get either USB powered or AC powered. USB powered are smaller 2.5inch hard drives and AC powered drives are the bigger 3.5inch. You would generally want to get a portable hard drive that uses only USB and no other power sources as they are much easier and simpler to use, however hard drive greater 500gig need the extra AC power



If the case but the hard drive inside remains undamaged you can easily get the data off, but even if the actual hard drive dies then you can still get the data off by going to IT stores that have the equipment



External hard drives are simply plug and play, just plug it in and it works, you can only have a connected to one computer at a time though unless you network and share it

Answer 5

1) Western Digital or Seagate the best, i prefer Wd

2) A portable device is recomended the dont require a plug power source, but are slower-still better in my opinion.

3) Not really but it is easier than an internal drive..a fee can be paid to recover data is it mucks up, but a Wd will last years and is garrented for 3..about 1 000 000 read and writes

4)A portable is so easy its just like a flash drive, your pc will do it all for you..just like your c drive but for storage if whatever



i would say get a 500gb portable from WD comes in a green box, thats what i have and its the best

Answer 6

1)WD or Maxtor(less likely to fail quickly)

2)Not all portable pocket size use only usb interface and store raw data, others are just ideally internals in an enclosure and need a power supply.

3)There is A REASON THERE IS BACKUP

4)Plug and Play (you can share them on a network through a connected pc)

Answer 7

Hello, Please check the following, i have answered it as follows - a) Can any internal hard drive fit any laptop or do you have to have a specific one to match specific laptop makes/models? Ans. Well, any HD can be attached to the laptop. However, keep the compatibility of the processor in mind. b) Do they need to be 'installed' or 'setup' or anything like that or can you just take the old one out put the new one in? Ans. Well, you can simply attach the HD and in your windows control panel, select "Add a new hardware" and proceed. Makre sure to create the partitions for HD. c) Would i need to re-install the internet? Ans. Well, if you are just attaching a new hard drive, then you will need to install the softwares. However, if you are adding-on a additional HD, then you do not require to install the softwares as i suppose they will be installed on your primary drive. Well, you can set it up yourself :)

Answer 8

1. WD Western Digital (it's what i use)

2. portable ones usually don't but the bigger ones need to be plugged in

3. don't think so. back up your files on something else.

4. piss easy. just plug it in.

Answer 9

1) http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/61111.aspx



2) Most don't need a power supply, some do



3) If they stop working, you can usually tear them apart, take out the actual drive, and recover your data



4) Very simple, yes multiple PCs

Answer 10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=caddy+hard+drive



http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=+hard+drive&x=14&y=22

another option for you

top link is for a case to put a hard drive in

2 nd link is for a hard drive

match the 2 together and you have a hard drive you know like wd

and a case which contain the electronics you need

another way is you can buy a docking station and a hard drive you simply slot into it (no case)

Answer 11

look on newegg.com or tigerdirect.com