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Author Topic: be nice and give me some very quick help?  (Read 6278 times)

kevin.

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:04 »

I have a small question I'm not sure who to ask.
anyone who knows like the first thing about computers will know.

So my computer is crammmed full of music and photos. I 20-something MB'S free memory left. I need to keep a lot of this stuff on here. so Im going to buy a big external hardrive, like 150/200 gb or some jazz like that.

Problem is, I have USB 1.1 ports on my computer, not 2.0. is running the exernal hard drive going to suck? like being really really slow at everything?

also, are they easy to set up and use. as you've probably guessed from this thread's existence, Im no computer genius.

thank you very very much to whoever answers!    you're nice!

while I'm making with the questions, anyone know of a good alternative to myspace? I like the idea of myspace, especially as Im not the most sociable of people in the real world, but jesus, do the people on there suck.
answer that and you're SUPER NICE!
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Something Witty

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #1 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:12 »

Ask the computer forum?
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catflea

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Re: be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #2 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:13 »

Quote from: kevin.

Problem is, I have USB 1.1 ports on my computer, not 2.0. is running the exernal hard drive going to suck? like being really really slow at everything?

also, are they easy to set up and use.


Yes on both counts (under windows at least - never tried with Linux). Expensive too.  You'd do better to buy another Internal Drive (they are dead easy to install once you've got over the OMG, I can see my computers Guts!) - I am assuming you have a PC.  Can't comment on Macs
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #3 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:20 »

External drives also rock for sharing large files.  I've already had a few instances with my Roommate having downloaded large movies (Oldboy was one that comes to mind) and when I wanted to watch it, I just plugged my external HD into his computer, and copied the file over.

Yes, USB 1.1 is going to suck.  2.0 is necessary.  You can do what I did; buy a USB 2.0 card (assuming you have a free PCI / PCI2 slot) and plug it in.  The card was only $30, and came with a firewire port on it too... which has made my IPod VERY happy.  Instead of taking 5 minutes - on average - to upload an album's worth of songs to my IPod, it now updates my entire IPod library in about 3 minutes (approx. 25 gigs of music transferred, total, in 3 mins... I loves me some firewire).

Either go with another internal HD, or get a USB 2.0 card.  I would go with the latter, for the ease and convenience of having the external HD.
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catflea

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #4 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:42 »

But from a cost POV the internals are far cheaper
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #5 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:47 »

Yup.  And faster.  But less convenient.
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catflea

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #6 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:48 »

Anything Big I wanna transfer I just burn onto a DVD
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #7 on: 07 Nov 2005, 09:55 »

A waste of a DVD, though.  Unless you have a DVDRW, which I don't.
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catflea

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #8 on: 07 Nov 2005, 10:36 »

I get them dirt cheap.  £3.99 for 25,
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #9 on: 07 Nov 2005, 10:40 »

I bought the HD for $80.00, and it's an 80gig HD, which I'll never need to buy disposable media for.  :)
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Se7en

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #10 on: 07 Nov 2005, 10:44 »

Now the thing is, you DO need USB2, and that means adding a PCI expansion card to support it. This means cracking your case open, and if your going to do that, you may as well just install a new internal hard drive, which is cheaper and faster.
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kevin.

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #11 on: 07 Nov 2005, 11:28 »

you are all definetely nice.
thank you very much!

the internal hard drive sounds like a really good idea, and cheaper is always better, BUT, it would be handy for me to have usb 2.0, so I could update my ipod and transfer images from my cameras quicker....undecided.
if I took it to a shop, could they transfer everything thats on my drive at the moment to the newer, bigger one? or is it a smarter solution to put everything I have onto cd's and put it onto the new one myself? how many discs do you think it would take to burn around 25 GB's of music and photos?
any takers on the good alternative to myspace thing? I checked out that tardcore thing, but wasnt sure....
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jhocking

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #12 on: 07 Nov 2005, 11:32 »

If you get a new internal drive then there's no need for CDs, or any other external media.  You just move files to the new drive just like moving them around within a single drive (ie. click and drag the icons.)

This of course assumes that you add the new harddrive to your rig, as opposed to replacing your existing one.  In other words, you now have two harddrives in your computer: the old one with your OS and applications on it, and the new one that you move your media files to.

Se7en

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #13 on: 07 Nov 2005, 11:45 »

Even if you want to replace the old hard drive, plugging both in temporarily and cloning the data isnt too hard.

On a scale of 1 to 10, adding a USB2 card is a 2. Its one of the easiest things you can do to the guts of a computer. You slot it in, and fasten the single screw that holds it down.

Installing an internal hard drive is a little bit harder. You have 4 screws, 2 cables, and often a quite cramped space to work in. You also have jumpers to set before you install it. Its still only a 3 on the difficulty scale though.
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #14 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:01 »

I'd actually put an HD installation at a 4 or 5... but that's just me.
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jhocking

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #15 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:05 »

I'd put it at pi.

Seriously though, it depends a lot on the specific kind.  I haven't installed any on a PC, but SATA's are trivial to install in G5s.  Even easier than RAM, because of how the case is designed.

Also, setting the jumpers isn't always a footnote; if you know the right setting it's easy, but it can confuse beginners.

Se7en

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #16 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:14 »

The jumper settings are printed on the label on the top or side of the drive. If you know you have to do it, then finding the setting and setting them before putting the drive in is simple.

Since this PC doesnt have USB 2.0, theres no way it has SATA support, so that means parallel ATA of course. The biggest potential complication is finding the cables are too short.
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Sideways

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #17 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:15 »

It's not the length of your cables, but how you use them.
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jhocking

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #18 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:17 »

Quote from: Se7en
Since this PC doesnt have USB 2.0, theres no way it has SATA support, so that means parallel ATA of course.

Yeah, that's kinda what I was getting at; I forgot to state it.  The newer SATA harddrives are much easier to install than the older parallel ATA drives, so keep that in mind when judging how hard installation is.

Incidentally kevin, make sure to get the right kind of harddrive, one that your motherboard supports.

...

Y'know, maybe you should get a USB2 card and go with an external drive.  It'll cost more, but there's less fiddly stuff to remember (not to mention you now have USB2 ports for connecting devices.)

Se7en

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be nice and give me some very quick help?
« Reply #19 on: 07 Nov 2005, 12:30 »

Yeah, an external drive has less possible complications. I would say the deciding factor would be price, and if being able to move the drive around would be a useful thing, or totaly unneccesary.

I tend to forget how hard things are for newbies, since i no longer rate anything as hard to do unless it involves liquid nitrogen.

The best thing to do is find a local friend who has plenty of hardware experience, and bribe them with beer.
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