Can I use a portable hard drive on a laptop without a hard drive built in?

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Mark Davie

My hard drive on my HP laptop has stopped working and I was wondering if I can use my 1TB portable hard drive or 4GB usb stick to run a OS? I have pulled out my old HDD because I'm waiting for a new one. Any ideas?

Answer
If you are good technically then you can take out the HDD from a portable device and put it into your laptop.

The portable hard drive you have there should have a 2.5 inch internal hard disk and that should exactly replace the one inside your laptop.

I hope you know how to install the Operating System and program if you can do the above steps in flying colors.

Best of luck!

What type of portable external hard drive should I use for my laptop?

History Fi

I am looking for a Portable External Hard Drive for my HP laptop. I need one that has at least 2tb of memory and is fast but affordable (preferably under $150) I'm looking for a good reliable brand too. I just don't know where to start. If it helps any I have Windows 7.

Answer
You can get a 3 TB Western Digital hard drive from Amazon for under $150.00
I have a 2.5 and a 3.0 TB for my two laptops from Western Digital and they have worked flawlessly. One of my laptops is Windows 7 and one is Windows 8. I don't work for Amazon (retired postal service) but I really like Amazon for deals. Check them out and do some searching. I think you will find what you need.

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I am considering getting a portable hard drive. Can anyone recommend me anything?

portable hard drive enclosure firewire 800 image

sambr1111

I need a good and reliable portable hard drive. I need at least 120 GB of space and it has to have USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 or 800 capability. I also need it to be able to work on Mac OS X and I don't want anything too cumbersome or anything that looks stupid. Oh, and, I want to be able to buy it in a store as well, preferably in a price range of $100-$200 0_o. Please help!!

Answer
Buy a 3.5" Slim USB 2.0 & IEEE 1394 Firewire COMBO External IDE Hard Drive Mobile Storage Enclosure Case with Cooling Fan and Anti-Shock Design: UFE720 (Supports 750GB IDE Hard Drives and Windows Vista!)

http://www.xpcgear.com/uf72s3.html

for window use USB, for mac use firewire.
make sure u use the pc format.

then buy a 120 GB seagate harddisk and have fun.

it will within 200 budget, and my portable hard drive works great.

Cooling Fan and Anti-Shock Design will help ensure Hard Drive Stability and Longevity!
Truly Plug and Play!
Hot-swappable connection!
On/Off Switch
Works with both PC and Mac!
Support Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.6 or above
Driver-less Installation for Windows XP and Windows 2000
Dimension (L x W x H) : 213 x 128 x 38mm
With 30Watt External Power Supply.
AC Input : 100 - 240V.
DC Output : +5V 1.5A / +12V 1.8A

Should I get a MacBook or a Sony VAIO?

chevycobal

I'm getting a new laptop, but I can't decide. I can get a MacBook for $1,000, and I've always wanted a Mac. However, Wal-Mart is offering through it's Site-2-Store a Sony VAIO laptop with Windows 7 and a Blu-ray player for a little over $700. (I already have a BD player, but this would obviously be portable.) Which one should I get?

Answer
Apple MacBook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QQ8EKO?tag=dcmb-20

Review:
Pros:

- Unibody enclosure
- Same battery as the MacBook Pro
- Same graphics and processor (low end) of 13" MBP
- Glass multi-touch trackpad
- 250GB Hard Drive (bigger than entry level MBP)
- DDR3 RAM
- LED Backlit Display
- SuperDrive
- New AC Adapter (I just like it better. Basically the same as a MB Air's)
- Snow Leopard
- Price

Cons:

- No backlit keyboard
- Bezel around the display isn't as "refined" and the edge to edge glass on the MBP
- No Firewire. Isn't that big for current products as most things are going USB, but legacy items and high transfer rates of Firewire 800 or sustained throughput of 400 would have been nice.
- Battery is non-removable. Again, could be a big deal for some.
- "Non-slip" bottom is rather slippery and tends to gather crud easily, but then again, it's easy to wipe clean
- While I would surely say that the new case is more pro than con (looks better, doesn't get dirty as easily, fingerprints rub right off) that high gloss is rather easy to scratch.
- Finally, this is more neutral than con, I would have liked to have seen a $50 price drop, putting this machine for students and educators, who make up a sizable chunk of Apple's target demographic, at $899. With everything that has changed on this machine, I can see why it didn't happen.

Overall, I would say that this is an very solid machine. For those looking for the "best overall value" in the notebook line, I say that it would be a toss up for me between this guy and the 2.53 MBP. For most users, this is more than enough machine and would be my pick for them. With the overall features, value, and redesigned exterior (and interior), this is really a great machine.

Review 2: Wow. Okay, I previously had a Sony Vaio that ran Windows Vista. It wasn't a bad computer in any sense, but now that I've owned this Macbook for a day, I can already see that it wasn't a GREAT computer at all! Even after a single day, I can already tell that this Mac has pulled me in, and I will never go back to Windows computers, unless they somehow become more amazing than Apple. But they won't. Once you go Mac, you don't go back ;)

But... anyway. The pros:
1. Start up/shut down. Shut down takes 5 seconds, and start up takes 10-20 seconds. My jaw dropped when I actually saw it happen.
2. The BATTERY. It really will last up to seven hours. Which I need, as I am a college student. If nothing else, get it for the battery life, haha.
3. Ease of use! I know my way around Windows computers quite well, and this was my first Mac, but my gosh, I've caught on quite quickly. Installing & uninstalling "apps" is 1000X easier than programs in Windows. I couldn't believe it was so easy, again, until I saw myself do it. If you happen to lose anything, spotlight will easily find it for you. Similar to the "search" feature in Vista's start menu.
4. The power adapter. It really is a simple magnet. You can pull as hard as you want, and the computer is going nowhere as it detaches.
5. The keyboard, and track pad! And... well, honestly, everything else, haha.

Cons:
1. No SD card slot. But this can easily be fixed by purchasing a SD-USB item. I haven't done so yet, but eh.



Overall, this is definitely a computer you should get. I once thought Apple overpriced its computers, by looking at the technical specs. Now I realize, you really do get what you pay for. Mac is sooo much better! Now I'm a believer :P

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Can anyone recommend the most reliable, durable, lightest 250gb or over portable hard drive on the market?

portable hard drives ireland image

sian m

I'm living in the rebublic of ireland. So preferably something available here but I'm open to buying online and getting a european adapter for a US or other product. Thanks!!!

Answer
There are simply hundreds of external hard drives and external hard drive enclosures available either from retail stores or from web based sales stores. Here is just one of them. Take a look at what is available.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList3.jsp

Portable Hard Drive Enclosure?

-oMeGaTRON

I have a seagate 750GB portable external drive, and dropped the thing and broke the piece that converts SATA to USB....it could be fixed by buying a replacement case ("enclosure") but the hard drive is about a millimeter too thick to fit into any enclosure I've tried. Does anyone know of a bigger model? or a solution other than a bay / ordering the part from Seagate? If it could be more portable than the original chunky Seagate case, it would be best for travel.. but any help, please!

Answer
To overcome issue of size, I bought an external enclosure for 2.5" SATA hard discs for â¬10 Euro and an internal 2.5" SATA 250GB drive for â¬50, so I have 250GB external storage that can fit in a pocket and powered from single mini usb port.
I checked, you can get 750GB 2.5" HDD ~â¬90 and get rid of your big chunky Seagate solution

I'm in Ireland, so these two options would be available in my area, but I'm sure you can find something suitable nearby.
Enclosure: http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=GCE11590&productID=
HDD: http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MME2752595

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What is the small usb opening on a portable external hard drive called?

western digital portable hard drives image

Raya I

I have a western digital portable external hard drive. What is the metal piece that connectes the small end of the USB that's connected to the circuit board called?

Answer
it's a usb jack

How do I use my WD portable hard drive on Ubuntu Linux?

bhayward00

I have a Western Digital 1TB portable hard drive and when I plug it into my computer (Running Ubuntu Linux 10.10) nothing happens. Is there a way to make the computer recognize it?

Answer
Run "lsusb" on the terminal to see if it detects the drive.
Most of the time it should be recognized and an icon will pop up on the desktop.

sudo fdisk -l
to see if the drive is detected.

mount
to see if it was mounted

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Best hard drive for Mac video editting and storage?

best portable thunderbolt hard drives image

iseegrace

I have the Mac OS X 10.7.3
2.3 GHz Intel Core i5

I am planning to get a portable external hard drive within the $200 budget mainly for video editting on Final Cut Pro and After effects and for storage.

I am so confused with fireware and 3.0
3.0 seems to be a good thing but will my macbook be compatible with it or will it function as a 2.0?

Please recommend me with the products with links. Thanks!

Answer
Final point is that Firewire 800 has wider bandwidth than USB. Also, USB never performs in real life situations equal to the spec.

Your computer (if it shows "MacBookPro8,1" for the Machine ID) is Early 2011, so it is USB 2.0. You cannot connect any USB 3.0 device to that. Your fastest option no matter what we think about USB 3.0 is still Firewire 800.... or Thunderbolt.

I also suggest an aluminum case for better heat dissipation. See links below.

How do I go about transferring data from my Vaio to my MacBook Air using a Seagate Backup Plus hard drive?

bentonx5

As in putting the data on the hard drive and than accessing it on my MBA. What wires would I need?

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Portable-External-STBU1000100/dp/B00829THO6/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356384905&sr=1-3&keywords=thunderbolt+hardrive

Answer
Very easy. Connect the drive to a usb port on your computer and copy paste all your important files from your computer to the external hard drive. If I go in more detail then you will have to open or explore your external hard drive and once the target window is open, go to your files or folder on the source drive and copy all your content by selecting it. Then go to your target drive and paste it. These are really basic instructions. You can google step by step instructions for more help.
Thanks.

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Apple Ipod Touch worth it?

portable hard drives kmart image

Razorrr

so in the next two weeks i was plannin on gettin an ipod touch but i keep saying that i shouldnt and should save up instead of spending it on it... im planning on getting the 32 gig 3g.....
to those that own it do any of you:
1) regret buying it?
2) have had any problems with it?
3) find it fun and just "worth the money"?

any aditional info would help =]... i already know most of the things it can do since i read about it and

4) is it efficient in what they say it can do? (media player/ gaming/ internet etc)

id rather save that 400-450 AU$ if its not worth it..

Answer
Get a Zune HD instead because iPod touch is very common nowadays http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JPITY8?tag=dcmb-20

Review:
Zune was the laughing stock a couple of years ago when Microsoft released the "brick" 1st-gen Zune. A joke went around about Microsoft's pathetic attempt to enter the "iPod market." So a year passed, and Zune remained a joke in the consumer electronics world and had to endure the jeers and torment of the Apple crowd. When the 2nd Gen Zunes came out, the Zune brand slowly started to see redemption. The Zune 80gb was deemed the first decent competitor to the iPod, but the brand was still in recovery from its hazing.

But for the first time, Microsoft has developed a Zune player that can finally use the words "downright sexy" to describe it. The Zune brand image is building up quickly with the release of the Zune HD, XBOX Live integration, and much-needed marketing.

With the rapid rise of the iPod Touch and iPhone, it's no surprise Microsoft came up with a touchscreen portable media player of its own. However, this is not a copy of the iPod touch at all. Sure the Zune HD features a touchscreen, accelerometer, app support, a strong web browser and other features that made the iPod Touch so popular.

However, the Zune HD has what the iPod Touch lacks, such as...

-ZunePass (Download all the music you want for $15/month, keep 10 songs per month DRM-Free)
-720p HDMI output
-An aesthetically nice software (Zune 4.0 interface is very pretty to look at, not a dull spreadsheet like iTunes)
-An aesthetically nice device OS (Artist pictures and info float around while playing a song, it's cool)
-OLED screen (brighter, more vibrant than LCD)
-Free HD radio
-Radio "tagging" (If you like a song you hear on the radio, "tag" it to add it to your cart for download)
-XBOX Live integration
-An advanced nVidia Tegra Chip (A couple of graphically-intense 3D games are coming out this fall, like Burnout: Ferrari Edition)
-On-demand music (play music online with your Zune HD, don't need to download it to your hard drive)


Again, the Zune HD is just simply amazing. With the Nvidia Tegra chip and highly capable processor, the potential for this device is endless. The Zune HD is supposed to be a portable gaming platform to compete head-to-head with the Nintendo DS and PSP brands. I'm excited to see Burnout: Ferrari Edition on it this fall. I'm also looking forward to see more apps as well.

Could this device take significant market share from Apple's iPod Touch? With the right marketing to increase public awareness of this product, yes it definitely can. Every large monopolizing entity like Kmart, GM, and even Apple will dominate a market completely for some period of time. However, times change and something better always comes along. Is this Zune HD the better alternative to the iPod? With some more releases in the app store and updates, it clearly will be. The question is will Apple change and copy the Zune's features including the Zune Pass? I don't know, we'll see. The Zune Pass will clearly become the new standard of digital music services and the $1-per-song marketplace model will not be competitive much longer.

***UPDATE***

I've been getting a lot of comments on my review saying that the Zune's HD radio does not compensate for the lack of online radio services found on the iPod Touch (such as Pandora). I believe I already said in my review that with some more app development the Zune HD will be a strong competitor to the iPod Touch, and that includes online radio apps.

I also forgot to add the Zune HD does not have an external speaker. If that's a super-important feature to you, the iPod Touch may suit you for now. However you can always get headphone couplers or battery-powered mini-speakers to remedy this.

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What is a computer that can game, but isn't a gaming computer?

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Nick

Hello Everyone! I am looking for a laptop that like I said can game with ease, not much lag, but it doesn't have to be able to handle like the best graphics. I just bought a $2200 gaming PC, so I don't feel like spending all that much on a laptop, plus I need something portable for school that I can carry around easily. I also really want it to LOOK GOOD!! Sleek, thin please!
Well I have seen this in other threads, so here we go!

1. What is your budget?
About $800 at most.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I am thinking 13-15" maybe 17" if it is a good deal, because sometimes I do like larger laptops. I would really like it to be thinner, I don't want it to be a tank.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
As good as possible with my budget. HD is preferred, but not needed.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable is preferred, nothing massive! I would like it to be thin!

5. How much battery life do you need?
About 3-4 hours would be great, more even better!

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I want to be able to play Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Runescape (on High of course not very taxing), Borderlands (High), Minecraft (Normal distance) and other games to come probably. When it comes to Starcraft and WoW I would like high graphics of course but it isn't needed.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Mostly playing music, watching movies and other videos, web browsing, video/photo editing.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
As much as possible with the budget. Preferably 500GB or more.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Anywhere that is reputable! I would like to order online.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
I plan to keep it for my years throughout Highschool.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,BluRay ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Anything is fine. I would like it to be able to write/burn DVD's though. Obviously, I want the best I can get!

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
No preference really, just a good quality laptop, that LOOKS GOOD!! I have had Apple and Asus both of which I really liked.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

I hope that covers it all. Let me know! Thanks!

Answer
How about something like this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215401

$650 w/ coupon code
15.6" ultrabookish laptop (5 lbs and ~.8" thick)
7 hrs. battery life just surfing web
500 GB hard disk space + 20 GB caching SSD
NVIDIA GT 640M graphics (non-LE version)
Core i5 3317U (low power version)
6 GB RAM

or you can go with the 14" version
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215392
a bit lighter ~4.4lbs
costs the same but you only get 4GB RAM

I want to move my itunes music library off of my computers hard drive?Can I use a flash drive?

MJMGrand

I run windows vista and the itunes files are slowing down my computer, I didnt have a problem until I added all the music. Can I use a flash drive, if not what type of drive do I need?

I am pretty sure its the music files, I've got a pretty cheap laptop, so it doesnt have a ton of space anyway and it doesnt have all the bells and whistles.

Answer
I had the same problem. You can upgrade your laptop, which is a good idea anyway. Add more RAM, it makes a world of difference. Anyways, get yourself a portable hard drive, depending on how much music your got. I got myself a 1TB hard drive, but I throw movies on there too. It's not too expensive, cost me about $100. Throw your music on there if you'd like, but the problem you run into is with the ITunes app. It's kinda a pain in the ass but it will speed up your PC.

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How could I organize my bills, important papers and receipts in the best way?

portable hard drive office depot image

Teach4Life

I want to organize my papers in the best way to reduce clutter and where I can easily find things. What should I do?

Answer
Get a small filing cabinet or portable filing box. You can find a variety of filing supplies at Staples, Office Depot and other stores.

Also purchase a supply of file folders and hanging files.

Write a name on each file folder and place the papers related to that name in each folder. For example, create files for your checking account statements, credit card statements, and utility statements. If you receive these in electronic form, save the files to a thumb drive in separate folders. NEVER save electronic files containing sensitive information to your computer's hard drive. Your personal identifying information can be compromised by a computer virus or worm.

You should have separate files for things like tax records, major purchases, banking accounts, Social Security statements, etc.

What is a good laptop for online gaming?

humancatpo

I want a laptop that has great graphics, memory, and speed. One that I can play games like Counter Strike Source and TF2 on high settings without very much lag. Any suggestions?

Answer
An AMD w/ dedicated video card.
If you're at the store looking at the display laptops, the 1st thing you should look for on the computer surface is A LOGO STICKER FOR NVIDIA OR ATI MOBILITY RADEON just below the keyboard. This SHOWS that the laptop has A DEDICATED GRAPHICS CARD. Diablo III, the game I would love most to play is said to run on 3D graphics & is rumored to need at least 1GB (if you're a little into gaming like myself) graphics memory (a lower graphics memory = CHEAPER laptop price), so always check the system requirement specs of the game's packaging (ex. SIMS 3; see if your laptop meets all the requirements).
Next important aspect is the RAM (memory). If you're in designing & you need to ran applications like AutoCAD 2007 or softwares used for editing photos and videos, you have to make sure that the laptop has AT LEAST 2GB DDR2 memory modules in it (the more, the better; DDR3 the fastest and newest type of memory modules that came out last October).
But what makes a computer really run fast? It is it's processor! So if you really want your processor to have computing prowess & for you to be able to run different applications simultaneously, make sure it's AS EFFICIENT AS an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (Centrino 2 is a Core 2 Duo that features power saving capabilities; Quad Core is for gaming fanatics). A Core 2 Duo is like having 2 motors running your machine each independent of the other w/c means for a Quad Core, it's like 4 motors are running the machine (that means it will run faster & more efficient even if its frequency is lower to that of a Core 2 Duo). Intel: Core 2 Duo, Centrino 2, Quad Core & Core i-7 (Core i-5 for desktops only as of now) are all very much faster and better than an Intel: ATOM, CELERON & PENTIUM (and their more affordable AMD counterparts). Just make sure that you have AT LEAST 2GHz of speed on your processor. For my computer, I chose an Intel® Core⢠i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB; newest type just came out this Nov) w/c is just the right stuff for the applications I use & games I play.
The average laptop LCD screen size is 15.4". If you want something smaller than that w/ these 3 features I just shed some light on, expect the price to go higher (ex. for 13.3" & 14.1" LCD screens).
The HDD (Hard Disc Drive) should have at least 320GB {I would have loved it if my HP came w/ 2 HDD bays like a Toshiba Satellite A505-S6979: 1st one for a 128GB SSD (Solid State Drive) & a 500GB (72000rpm) 2nd HDD}.
If you've thought of a SMALL, PORTABLE and affordable laptop, the new Sony CW13FX/B Jet Black glossy notebook went on sale @ Fry's about 3 weeks ago (for only $699.99). I checked out the price they had in other stores & Fry's was cheaper by about $200 {go to Fry's Electronics (www.Fry's.com) then type in this # 6029078 (or 6029138 for white & 6029108 for pink) in the search box under Notebooks/Tablets before you click on GO}. Now, after the sale, the price went up by $100, so we are waiting for it to go on sale again after Thanksgiving. Let's say you are on 9th grade.. when buying a computer, you have to consider if you will still be able to use the one you bought for college? For this particular Sony model, I would assure you, you can still use it for college as long as you take good care of it & not break it (for the technology installed on this computer will not be outdated & still be good in 10 years to come, but this is just an example). There are a lot of good brand of computers out there Toshiba, Dell, HP and ACER (w/c owns Asus & Gateway; has affordable computers w/ the newest technology installed), you just need to look for the ones on sale (try display computers on Clearance Sale inside stores like Micro Center, Best Buy and Office Depot). Try http://www.newegg.com/ look for Pavilion dv6-1362nr (sale @ $649.99).
MICROSOFT OFFICE IS AN OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE (so you would need to buy the retail version after the 60-day Free Trial Version that comes with all brand new computers expires, to be able to use the Word, Excel and Power Point applications). Retail version is about $159, but you can get a discounted price of $99 w/ a configured Dell laptop (www.dell.com).
MacBooks, that is on a totally different aspect for Apple has their own OS (Operating System) unlike the common Windows OS (XP, Vista and THE NEWEST WINDOWS 7) that most computers come with.
For the best prices, go to Fry's, CostCo, MicroCenter and BestBuy's web sites for updates & comparison. There are a lot of options & different combinations you can try in customizing your own laptop, just STICK TO THE BARE ESSENTIALS first (www.HP.com). The 15.6" HP laptop I customized & had configured w/ the Intel® Core⢠i-7 came to a total amount of $1,455.80 ($136 tax + other sur-charges already included). I chose to pay more to have the newest technology installed so that I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT GETTING OUTDATED WITHIN THE NEXT 11 YRS.

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what is the best portable hard drive to buy to backup all my software ?

how portable hard drives work image

blondguy04

I,m want to know what is the best portable hard-drive needed to backup my software and what the difference in portable hard-drives?

Answer
If you have High-speed internet then i would recommend using the Cloud

Reasons:
* Portable Hard-drives have a high failure rate ( Hard drive error, you drop it, magnets, water/weather)
* High Startup cost ($99+ for a cheap one) and warranty is usually limited
* You have to carry several pounds around
* Need to have more power to use it
* Easy for someone to steal your drive
* You don't have the drive with you then you can't get to your data

Reasons for Cloud:
* Secure and Encrypted
* Comes with backup software that you can schedule and will back it up
* Easy access from any computer in the world to your data
* Data can't be lost/destroyed
* Low monthly/yearly fees for data, as storage gets cheaper prices will fall.

I use the following: http://www.ignite360.com/secure/store click on "Ignite Backup" you can click on "More info" to see PDF explaining it with screenshots

What is the best portable hard drive to run applications on?

smcmayi

Can I run applications off a portable hard dirve? Which portable hard drives should I buy? I want to run Dreamweaver, Net Objects Fusion or WebPage Maker from a portable hard drive.

Answer
You Can not run all of those programs on a portable drive. Check out http://portableapps.com/ for a great repository of Portable applications you can use.


- you can use any portable drive but you will want one that;
*has enough space [this should not be a problem as you can get USB Sticks fairly cheap nowadays]
*can interface quickly [ you will want USB 2.0 for the fastest load times however the computer must have USB 2.0]

Hope this helps

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Should I buy a new external hard drive with the new Thunderbolt technology?

best external hard drives to buy image

talk2mejjv

I just bought a Macbook Pro with Thunderbolt technology. What would be the best external hard drive to buy that will be optimized by using this new port?

Answer
There are not any Thunderbolt external drives available yet. My rule of thumb is to wait at least 6 months when new tech comes out. This gives peripheral manufacturers time to gear up and the competition lowers prices. La Cie announced they will have a dual SSD Thunderbolt drive available this summer, I bet it goes for at least $1,000. At the moment, the Thunderbolt port doesn't really accomplish much besides shrink your wallet with no devices yet available. I'll consider a new MBP in September.

Would it be safe to buy a used external hard drive from Amazon or eBay?

Brooke

I want to get a really good deal on an external hard drive. Best Buy has always been reliable but I don't want to pay full price. Would it be safe to buy online from Amazon or eBay?

Answer
Be sure to check that the product is noted as being "New" or "Unopened". If neither of these options is viable, then at least be certain to choose a seller with a positive reputation for reliability.

And remember, there is always room for human mischief =(

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Will any portable hard drive work for an Apple computer or do I need to specifically buy an Apple product?

portable hard drive for mac image

thmtom

My wife just got a Mac-book (or some apple computer of shorts). It is the first apple base computer in our family. Being I'm a Microsoft guy (I have not converted yet), I'm clueless about Macs. I want to buy my wife a portable hard drive for her birthday (and she has been asking for one). Will any portable hard drive work for an Apple or do I need to specifically buy an Apple product?

Answer
If you were to go to an Apple retail store, you'd see that none of the portable hard drives are Apple-branded. Apple doesn't make its own hard disks, not even the ones in their Time Machine backup product.

If you get something from Seagate, Toshiba or Western Digital you should be fine. Those are all big players in the storage market and I've used drives from all those manufacturers successfully with a Mac running OS X.

How do I change Portable/External Hard Drive permission?

Silver Sha

I need to copy some movies and games onto my friends Portable/External Hard Drive using my mac. But the permissions are set to "Read only" and I need to change it to "Read and Write". How do I do this?

Answer
Go to the properties of that Device...

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Why is a SSD so limited in capacity when you can get a 2 TB external hard drive?

best external hard drive solid state image

Klay

Both an SSD and an external hard drive use non-magnetic technology to store data which is good for energy use, heat, speed, etc. Why does SSD have such a limited capacity when used as the primary data drive?

Answer
They are gettinjg bigger all the time - they are just very expensive. Here's a 2Tb one, but it costs $8,769 - http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=active&client=safari&q=1tb+ocz+ssd+price&cid=10587475620756169153&ei=pn_ZTuPJDZrQMrfYsZgB&ved=0CA0QtRI#

There's several reasons for the high cost. It's new material so the R&D still has to be paid for, it's hard to match the controller to the memory itself.

Silicon is cheap (almost literally dirt cheap - it's sand) the other components used in the wafers aren't though. They are rare and very expensive.

The manufacturing process is also aparently patented. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive#Cost_and_capacity - this means the cost might not come down for several years yet.

SSDs have come down in price but at about the same speed as ordinary HHDs. This means SSDs may never get to the same price as a HHD - http://agigatech.com/blog/why-are-ssds-still-so-expensive/

What's the life expectancy for external hard drives and flash drives?

Zach Brown

Currently, I own a 320 gb external hard drive that's 2 years old and a 1 tb external hard drive that's 1 year old. Both are by Seagate. Also, I own a variety of flash drives, 1 of which is a 1 gb flash drive that I got back in 2007 and it still works fine. I use my external hard drives 2-3 times a year for 30 minutes to 2 hours usually while I use my flash drives for numerous reasons. If I keep this pattern, how long should I expect them to last?

Answer
That is a good question, solid state devices have a life cycle and do ware out. MECHANICAL hard drives
do too, a good guess (by a tech) 5 or more years, like maybe 10 years... If you are lucky and get a small problem, it is best to take it out of service, as it may be going bad...

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Is it possible to create a mirror image backup of your hard drive and windows 7?

portable hard drive repair image

Q. I already made a system repair DVD for my laptop. Is there a way to backup windows 7 and a computer's hard drive completely so if something goes wrong I can just load it from a portable hard drive or DVD that it's burned to? If I can do this what's the easiest way to do it in windows 7?
My friend told me it's easy to do this but I'm not sure how to do it?

Answer
Just backed up my Computer using "MyPCBackup" - it was so simple, now I never have to worry about losing my files again. Check it out!

Why does my macbook open my portable hard drive as READ ONLY?

Loola

i have a "Western Digital my passport" portable hard drive...when i connect it to a PC i can read the documents on it AND i can add files to it, but on my macbook pro it wont let me do that! i can only copy files from the disk but not put any others on it! is there some setting i can change so i could do both..read and write?

Answer
In your Applications > Utilities folder is a program called Disk Utility

Select your external drive and click Repair Disk (note any errors) and then Repair Permissions.

If Disk Utility reports errors it can't fix, you need to quit and grab your files off the external drive, then head back to Disk Utility and format the external FAT (for Windows and Mac) not HFS+ thats' for Mac only.

All should be well.

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ipod help, fried HDD? tried restarting holding buttons, didnt help. still keeps restarting over and over????

portable hard drive keeps disconnecting mac image

nichole

Hi all,
So the other day I had my brothers 30g video ipod plugged into the computer, and I started copying his songs to the computer as a backup. Problem is - When it said it was safe to disconnect it, I did, and it's had probs ever since. When turning it on it goes to the Apple logo, the backlight lights up, then it doesnt go anyf urther. BAM it starts again with the logo, the light, and keeps constantly restarting. I was able to put it in disk mode and itunes then detected it and his songs as a portable hard drive I think, however I couldn't find a way to restore it from there.

He took it to the apple store and they said he might as well (well I MIGHT as well) buy him a new ipod cuz the "hard drive is fried". I think they might be wrong because the hard drive worked in itunes when I had it in disk mode..I tried restartingit 2.

I have to go back tomorrow to talk with them so any information is REALLY helpful so I can hopefully explain why I don't need to buy a new one :)

Answer
this is what it says, with your problem.
You may need to restore or update your iPod, iPod mini, or iPod nano by placing it in Disk Mode if only an Apple logo appears when you turn it on.

If this happens, the iPod software may have been damaged. Put iPod into Disk Mode, then restore or update iPod's software.

Put iPod into Disk Mode.
iPod should appear in the iTunes Source pane and on the desktop or in a Finder window, or in the My Computer window.
If a message appears that says the volume could not be mounted and asks if you want to initialize the disk, choose to initialize iPod's disk. Use Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) if you have a Mac, or FAT32 if you have a Windows PC.

Warning: This process cannot be undone. All of your songs, videos, and other files will be deleted. Always make a backup of your important data.


Follow the steps to update or restore iPod. If you manually put iPod into Disk Mode it may need to be reset before you can use it.

If you cannot put iPod into Disk Mode after performing these steps, it may need to be repaired. You can arrange for repair at the iPod Service Website.

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is it possible to transfer my transfer itunes library to my laptop?

portable hard drive keeps disconnecting image

moneygrinc

if so, how? if not, is there something else i can do?

Answer
Check this out ... Extract from
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=159372&start=0&tstart=0
Option 1:
Assuming you're moving files legally between your own computers, check out iPodAgent at http://www.ipodsoft.com/
________________________________
Option 2:
The manual way around this problem is to use the iPod in its alter ego - that of portable computer disk drive. Successfully tested under iTunes for Windows 4.2, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7; Windows XP Home.

- Start with the iPod disconnected from the computer - DON'T CONNECT IPOD YET
- open iTunes
- open iTunes Preferences - this blocks iTunes from seeing an iPod connection; leave the preferences window up and running
- connect the iPod to the computer, wait about 15 seconds before continuing
- open 'My Computer'
- Tools menu, Folder Options, View tab, enable 'show hidden files /folders'
- open iPod icon in My Computer
- open iPod_Control folder
- you should see a folder named music
- drag this folder to somewhere on your computer hard drive
- after the copy completes, right-click the new Music folder on your hard drive and select 'Properties'
- clear the checkmark next to 'Hidden'
- Close that explorer window
- eject iPod from System tray "Safely Remove Hardware" icon. This icon looks like a small gray rectangle with a green arrow floating above it. It's only there when a removable device (like the iPod in this case) is attached to the computer. Right-click & select 'Safely remove..', then click 'Stop' in the next window, OK in the next window, and then Close to complete the ejection.
- disconnect the iPod from the computer

- go back to iTunes, cancel the preferences window
- File menu \ Add folder to Library \ find that Music folder copied over from the iPod

Your iTunes library should be back in action! But wait - there's more!!

Long time forum regular Otto42 has a java script/program that can also retrieve the playlists themselves from the iPod as well. Here are his instructions and a link to the most recent thread discussing this tricky process:

] This is really useful when you're pulling all the songs off of an iPod to put them back into iTunes, because you lost your library or anything along those lines. Come up with your own reason for using it.

] Download this program:
http://otto.homedns.org:8888/iTunes/iPodGetXML.zip
(If you can't download it, try again later. The connection goes up and down a lot.)

] Now, put the iPod into Disk Mode or otherwise access the iPod as a drive. Make sure you can see hidden files, then go to the drive and the iPod_Control folder and find the iTunesDB file. Copy it to your PC.

] Put the copied iTunesDB file in the same directory as this program, then run the program. It'll read the iTunesDB, get all the playlists, and create an XML file for each one. Now just import those XML files into iTunes to recreate the playlists.

] Notes:
- The songs in playlist must already be in the iTunes library. If any one of them isn't there, iTunes throws up an error when you try to import the XML file.
- The song names, artist names, and album names in the library all must be identical as to what the iPod has. If you just copied all the music off the iPod and into iTunes, this will be the case, so it's generally not a big deal. but you'll get an error if it can't find the song in the iTunes library, so it's something to keep in mind.
- It probably won't be able to cope with unusual characters in song names. Sorry, not worth my time to fix. Dealing with unicode is way annoying.
- Smart Playlists get changed into regular playlists. It's *possible* for me to add the smart playlist stuff in there, but it'll take a while to work it all out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Original thread for Otto42's playlist recovery: http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.689c78f2/0

My computer keeps getting the blue screen of death and runs slow. My mom wants to take it in?

Joshua

and we have a virus but if she takes it in arent they just going to reset the whole comptuer back to when we first got it then they are going to charge us $200 dollars for something we can do ourselve.

Answer
if u have the os cds or the Windows Xp Vista Cd that installs Windows Xp or VIsta for u plug the cd in go to the boot menu and click the cd when the screen shows up clear ur whole hard drive i did this to my Pc from 2003 thts in my dads room now after i tuned it up for lik 6months i know about a lot of problems i had when i fixed it i kno a lot first of all get virus programs wait here

1. Save all your data u want on portable harddrive or flash drive
2. write down all the applications you have on your pc u want to have on ur pc after its back to new or w/e
3. first thing create account then load everything
4. i would disconnect the interent for a while and install programs from cds if u have any
5. clean the dust from inside ur pc
6. buy some ram if u want but make sure u kno how to open a pc and install part befor u even think about opening it up
7. after that get virus protection if u dont have any ur lik me i brought NOrton 360v2 and it socks badly so my dad didnt want to buy another one
8. a computer needs 1 antivirus 1 firewall and 1+ spyware malaware worms scanner plus u need registry cleaners hard drive cleaners etc

i got lik 12 apps i use and my pc is safe heres wat u should get (there all free just need a email address for some well lik 1) Ill give u most of mine the most important not all

Anti virus- Avast 4.8 Home Edition or Avira i lik Avast better in my opinion

Firewall-COMODO Internet Security

Spyware etc- Advanced SystemCare

Spybot - Search & Destroy

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
those should protect u first things first after installing set all those up please take your time

oh ya Comando dosnt install correctly so Install it twice intill u see it pop up and make sure u set ur internet back up cause comando blocks it sometimes intill u configure it oh and always click allow this request if ur not sure look it up on google read the name or click the file and if its in a safe place allow it if ur not sure i would allow it cause avast will get the virus anyways good luck

these might slow down ur pc but those are recommanded all the best

hope u kno about computers



Others-

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How could I transfer files from my PC to my ps3 wireless?

portable hard drive connect to ps3 image

rosas_jess

I want to transfer files from my PC to my ps3 wireless because it gets tiring transferring files back and fourth using a portable hard drive..could anybody please tell me how I could transfer them from my PC to my ps3 but without usb cables..like I would like to transfer them using the internet.

Answer
put your PC to share media in Windows Media Player..... they must be connected under the same wireless router.. Enable your ps3 to search for Shared media PC. YOur computer must grant access to this "unidentified device", grant it. and you will be able to transfer music photos and videos.... But I strongly prefer transfering using USb's its much much faster and you dont have to worry of your internet's speed or signal strength

i got a WD 1TB portable hard drive and i can't view it on my ps3 ?

shaman04

i got a WD my passport essential se 1TB, portable hard drive.my probable is that i connected it to my ps3 but nothing shows ups. it works fine when i connect it to my laptop. I also got another WD my passport 500g and that works fine on both. what can i do to fix it for i can be able to view it on my ps3.

Answer
Format it as FAT32. If it's not formatted as FAT32, then the PS3 won't read it. Also be sure it's USB 2.0 (NOT 3.0) as the PS3 can only properly read USB 2.0 devices, not 3.0 even if it's 2.0 compliant.

A great tool for FAT32 formatting is Fat32Formatter. Just download, unzip and run, no installation required.

http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/

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External hard drive transfer freezes from time to time?

portable hard drive 10 tb image

M -

Today i just bought a new WD Elements 2 TB portable external HDD and formatted it to the default allocation unit size and NTFS.
My problem is that while i tried to transfer files (both, from my internal laptop hdd to this new one and another external hdd i have of 500 gb to the new one) the transfer randomly freezes for about 10 seconds and continues again (the bar gets stuck and the remaining data to transfer remains at the same number).

For example, i try to copy a few files to the WD hdd and the transfer goes up to 40 mb then at some file it gets stuck for 10 seconds and it resumes with a speed of 10 mb increasing its speed again to 30/40 mb and all over again at some random file the same thing happens.

Im using Usb 2.0 ports with windows 7 and i consider the speed its good for my system but this is the problem...the random freezing.It doesnt happen if i transfer files between my pc and the other 500 gb hdd i have or between my internal hdd partitions.


Any kind of methods i could try would be really helpful !!!

Answer
This is not strange thing, this is common in windows. When you are copying files to and from your External HDD, there will always be some system configuration files or some files with hidden attributes like .ini files or .db files. While copying windows will check for permissions level you have and authorize you to copy the files, doing this it may take some seconds.

If you copy large files at once like Movies or Games, it will copy faster.
When you try to copy images it will copy at a slower pace and may freeze at times.

Which is better an Ipad2 or laptop ?

Jennifer

My dad is finally letting me get my own laptop. But I've recently been liking the IPad. I not really interested in all the apps I could get on the IPad. Im just gonna use the internet. And what I need to know is it better than a laptop. And also can you get microscope word. And can you take pictures, and videos on it.

Answer
Here's a little pro/con on the iPad:
Pros:
Apple OS (If you like Apple)
lightweight (1.3 lbs),
thin (.34 inches thick),
Front & Rear Cameras, front is VGA, rear is 720p,
Video output supports up to 1080p (which means you could hook this up to a pocket projector or other monitor),
10 hour battery life (I can't verify),
White & Black color options
Cons:
â¢Apple OS (If you don't like Apple), 1GHz dual-core A5 CPU (A low-end, $299 laptop at Wal Mart usually has at least a 1.7 or better processor, can be up to 2.3 GHz for a low-end $399 computer. So you double the speed and cut the price in half, basically, if you go with a laptop.
â¢512MB RAM, The same low-end laptop at Wal Mart usually has at least 1 GB of RAM, which is double that of the iPad. The $399 laptop can have up to 4 GB of RAM, which is 4 times the RAM of the iPad.
â¢16GB, 32GB, 64GB storage options: Good grief. Your most low-end laptops have at least 320 GB of storage capacity. A good $400 laptop has anywhere between 500 GB and 1 TB (1,000 GB) worth of storage. I have a 5 year old Gateway Tablet PC (look up M280E on Google Images) that has more hard drive space than the iPad, and it even had a stylus setup.
â¢9.7â³ LED display with 1024Ã768 screen resolution at 132ppi: This isn't bad for a tablet, but a netbook (which is about the lowest grade of PC you can get) has about this big of a screen, and it still has better other options. (Storage capacity, RAM, etc.)

The iPad probably has a word processor built-in. (Or it might be available as an app... I don't know.) But it would be a royal pain, I think, to actually type out anything on that small screen. A full-size keyboard is larger than 9 inches to begin with, so to fit the keyboard onto the iPad, they'll have it shrunken down. Trust me, it's a royal pain to use that kind of stuff. (If you've ever had a phone or used a friend's phone that had a touch screen, you understand what I mean.)

To me personally, I think it's a lot easier and a lot better to buy a regular PC laptop from Acer, HP, Dell, etc. and just upgrade what you want. Even the base models have faster and better features than what this iPad seems to have. And you can even buy spare batteries for a laptop. You probably can't do that for an iPad. The same goes for the iPad's internals. You probably can't replace the hard drive, RAM, or other internal components yourself. With a laptop PC, they are made so that you can easily replace the internal components that I mentioned. And there's plenty of online sources to show you how to make the upgrades you want. I highly recommend going out and purchasing a laptop PC. And here's the specs you want to look for:


CPU Speed: Around 2.7-3.0 GHz. That will last you a long time, and you can do a lot more with a good processor. An i3, i5, or i7 processor from Intel are all decent processors. Look for a quad-core rather than a dual-core. Dual core processors were good when they first came out about 10 years ago, but now they're starting to get phased out in favor of the quad (4) core processors.

RAM: 4-16 Gigabytes is what you want to go for. If all you'll do is surf the web you won't need a lot, typically 4 Gigabytes is a common number in decent laptops.

Hard Drive Size: 500 GB to 1 TB (1,000 Gigabytes) are good sizes to look for. They have plenty of space to start with, and you can get a 1 TB external drive for around $125 at Wal Mart if you need more room, or more portable space.

Video Card Capacity/Speed: Now more than ever it's important to consider how fast your computer's monitor can put out information. You don't want to get a laptop that can't play a DVD. (Even low-end ones can, but don't expect to play 3D high-resolution games on it) A "Non-integrated" card is really nice because it can be replaced, but a laptop with a non-integrated card can be very expensive. (upwards of $800 or more.) It's a good idea to have a laptop with an ATI graphics card, or an nvidia graphics card. They're the best cards out there, and even the low-end cards they make are better than the cheap ones in the low-end laptops.

Networking capability: Most laptops have a connection where you can connect an Ethernet cable for line-based networking. However, you'll most likely be using your laptop at school or a public internet place that uses WiFi technology. There are three kinds of WiFi: B,G, and N. You want a laptop capable of using an N network. It's the fastest connection currently available, and if you have an N capability, you most likely have G and B capability as well. (G and B are slower connections. G is the most common in schools and libraries where I'm from in Wisconsin.)

I hope you can understand all that, and I wish you well in finding what you'll need.

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What are the chances of an external hard drive crashing?

best external hard drive with firewire image

jakedelp77

not really worried about the viruses we never had one.
The external hard drive is a seagate 750gb firewire one. It is about 30gb full.

Answer
For most hard drives the failure rate is about 5% but start to go up depending on age and use, which is the same case for any piece of hardware that has moving parts.

Can someone recommend what I should uninstall to get some of my hard drive space back?

Q. I just installed Adobe CS4 Master Collection (w/o the video programs) on my 1.2 G4 iBook (1.25ram). I now only have 5.47GB left uGh. Was wondering what pre-installed (Leopard OS X 10.5) stuff I should get rid of? Or can I install Adobe CS4 on an external hard drive (Firewire connection) and run it from there?

Any suggestions?

Answer
I'm running photoshop CS3 Extended through a external hard drive hooked up through a USB so you could most likely run it through your firewire port if you wanted to do it that way.

You would just have to uninstall it then reinstall it with the program files on the external hd.

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