Can I attach an external hard drive to my laptop and access the files like they are on my laptop?

Cheryl

My laptop hard drive is almost full. I want to know if I can attach an external hard drive to my laptop and still be able to access the files like they were on my laptop's hard drive? I want to move three years of pictures and videos off my current hard drive, what size hard drive would i need?
i think my hard drive is 80 gb .. all i know is it is saying only 3 gb left in red !!! i thought it was my pictures using up all the space but when i selected all it said only 30 mb ... so i don't really know why my hard drive is used up ???

Answer
Yes. Anything similar to these will work fine:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=usb+portable+hard+drive&sprefix=usb+portable

I purposely searched for drives powered by a usb port, instead of drives that need an additional external power supply. With a laptop, who needs another cord?

What size would depend on how much you need to move. Sorry, no psychic ability here, lol. How big is the HDD you have now? I'd personally go for nothing smaller than 500GB. Better to have too much space, than not enough.

Also, you should always have at least 2 copies of important files. What if your HDD in your laptop went belly up? Do you have a backup copy somewhere? If not, you can kiss those videos and photos goodbye.

could anybody tell me what kind of usb cable needs to be purchased for a sea gate portable 500gb external?

ZACHMYAH

what kind of usb cable be specific please (hard drive)

Answer
you can use any USB cable that has same heads
like this one: (only the big ones)
http://www.tecool.co.uk/prodimages/cab/CBU-3l.jpg

or if the Portable Hard Disk has a small USB interface then you need like those: (look at the USB in the HDD to see which one fits)
http://www.shokaifareast.com/images/Cable%20Assemblies/USB&Firewire/mini_usb2.JPG

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

External Hard Drive Help?

Katie Jone

I want to purchase an external hard drive to hold movies, pictures music etc and I have found 2 online at amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Expansions-250GB-External-Portable/dp/B001XLX1SI/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-500GB-Expansion-Portable-Drive/dp/B001XM4P1O/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3

I was just wondering however are there any other main differences beside the price and the amount of memory. I also couldn't understand why it was such a little price difference fr double the memory?

Answer
I went to the seagate site and didn't find any answer as to the difference

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?locale=en-US&name=hard-drive-basics-dn&vgnextoid=2df42bb581b51210VgnVCM1000001a48090aRCRD

I did notice , on the amazon links, that although the weight for each hd is the same the boxed product weight is a little overt 3 times for the 500gb model, 898 to 295

wonder why that is? and now I'm wondering , how do you contact amazon to ask a question about a product? could just be a typo

Can I attach an external hard drive to my laptop and access the files like they are on my laptop?

Cheryl

My laptop hard drive is almost full. I want to know if I can attach an external hard drive to my laptop and still be able to access the files like they were on my laptop's hard drive? I want to move three years of pictures and videos off my current hard drive, what size hard drive would i need?
i think my hard drive is 80 gb .. all i know is it is saying only 3 gb left in red !!! i thought it was my pictures using up all the space but when i selected all it said only 30 mb ... so i don't really know why my hard drive is used up ???

Answer
Yes. Anything similar to these will work fine:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=usb+portable+hard+drive&sprefix=usb+portable

I purposely searched for drives powered by a usb port, instead of drives that need an additional external power supply. With a laptop, who needs another cord?

What size would depend on how much you need to move. Sorry, no psychic ability here, lol. How big is the HDD you have now? I'd personally go for nothing smaller than 500GB. Better to have too much space, than not enough.

Also, you should always have at least 2 copies of important files. What if your HDD in your laptop went belly up? Do you have a backup copy somewhere? If not, you can kiss those videos and photos goodbye.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

Whats the Difference between a Portable hard drive and an expansion hard drive?

portable hard drive 500gb uk image

Kieran

I want to buy one from argos (UK store) but i duno whats the different, there the same price and name, but ones an expansion 500gb and ones a 320gb portable?! please help! 10 points up for grabsss

Answer
A portable hard drive plugs into the USB or eSATA jack. (It's external to the computer.) An expansion drive is an internal drive.

is there a HD that can download directly w/o computer?

carnaby_fu

is there such a thing as a portable hard drive that you can download directly to without the need for a computer? i'm going on a trip where i will be taking a hefty number of photos and i'd like to be able to dump the memory cards without also having to bring a computer with me.
i know i could just bring a bunch of memory cards but that's a lot to buy and i'd prefer to back them up anyway. does such a product exist? or am i stuck with the laptop?

Answer
Portable drive to load camera photos were common in the 10,20,40, and 60GB sizes until they were priced out of the market by the high capacity SD flash drives. You can buy those now for less than $1 a GB in the 16, 32GB size. Be sure you test each one before going on your trip.
If you still want a very large (500GB or bigger) hard disk, contact a photo store or B&H Photo or Adorama about those that interface with cameras or camera cards. Tell them about your equipment to get a match. http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=recommend&sku=DFPS2250G has a 500 and a 320, battery pack, card reader included. Get an extra battery pack.
http://dpnow.com/7973.html shows the tiny Seagate drive.
If no match, you can try an adapter cord to a battery powered hard disk:
http://www.cooldrives.com/usb-otg-adapter.html
http://www.memoryforless.co.uk/store/erol.html#1X0
http://www.everythingusb.com/macally_syncbox_ii.html
http://www.compusb.com/usbotgbru2br.html
One thing to consider is in a stack of cards, if one goes bad, the others are OK. But if a 320HD is damaged, the whole thing and all its pix are gone.
What size and style flash cards your camera(s) take and the total shot volume planned may govern how you go on storage of the photos. I hope all of them survive.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

External hard drive question?

portable hard drive 500gb uk image

Ultra sens

I have thousands of pictures along with hours of home videos that are really slowing down my computer. I was looking to get an external drive but need to know if I could store along with run programs (like Nero) to make home dvds from that drive or will that even help?

Answer
Any of the new External Drives (pretty much every one that you can buy from the computer store in an unopened box) supports NTFS which means you will be able to install programs onto it. However, just because you have installed a program on to an external drive - does not mean to say you can use it on any computer:

The registry keys for the program will still be stored in your computers registry and so you will only be able to run the program from that one computer.

With this in mind (unless you are really struggling for space) I would leave the programs on your computers internal hard-drive and get a NAS storage device. The Netgear Stora is a fairly good one for home storage. You then connect it to your router run the CD on your main computer and it becomes a Network Storage Drive (which you can use for backups of your computer) and storing all your Pictures and Home Movies on. Doing it this way will also give you instant access to your files from any computer connected to your home network without the need for carrying around and external drive.

If you want to have an external drive however rather then Network Storage then I would suggest this one for a desktop external drive

IOMEGA Prestige Desktop External Hard Drive - 1TB

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/iomega-prestige-desktop-external-hard-drive-1tb-03868723-pdt.html

Or this one for a portable external drive

WD My Passport Essential Portable Hard Drive - 500GB

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/wd-my-passport-essential-portable-hard-drive-500gb-03709256-pdt.html

As you can see however, although they are about the same price, you are getting less storage in the portable drive because you are paying for the portability of it: so unless you plan on carrying it around with you I would go for the desktop external drive.

i'm looking for a cheap external hard drive to hold photos and music?

squeee

i need one available in the uk, with good value for money.. i'm on a budget of roughly £60.
please reply! (: x

Answer
Theres 2 types of external hard drives

1 is Desktop External Hard drive, its the type of hard drive you dont move you just keep it there, and they are powered by a main adapter that comes with the external drive. These are usaully the cheapest of the external hard drive. Its basically a 3.5inch hard drive in a case but the size is kinda big.

2 is Portable External Hard drive, these are the types that you take around with you such as on trips, holidays and so on, if you need access on the go. These are usaully small since its basically a 2.5inch hard drive in a case that connect to you Pc/ Laptop by a usb cable. These usauly cost a bit more.

For £50 you can get a 500GB External Desktop hard drive with a free 4gb USB at argos
[offer ends 23rd of feb]

[Link >> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6758655/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/3|15701344|Hard+drives%2C+USBs+and+data+storage|14419053/c_3/4|cat_14419053|Portable+hard+drives|14419054.htm ]

For £50 you can get a 320GB Portable External hard drive with a free carry case worth £10
[offer ends 23rd of feb]
[Link >> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6758617/c_1/1|category_root|Office%2C+PCs+and+phones|14418968/c_2/3|15701344|Hard+drives%2C+USBs+and+data+storage|14419053/c_3/4|cat_14419053|External+hard+drives|16528298.htm ]

For both if you want the free usb or case click on special offer and tick the box, why not its a free gift lol.

I say go for the 500gb Desktop one if your using a PC, but if your using a laptop i suggest the 320gb Portable one if you like a smaller sized and easy to carry drive.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers