i'm thinking of getting n external drive and wondering if there was any differences in the performance of one compared to an internal drive besides it being slower because it is connected to a usb port
An external hdd will act like an internal one under XP (or any opperating system).... If you have USB 2.0 ports then the tranfer rates will be much faster than if you have USB 1.1 ports...
I've just set up an external HDD with an old case i had laying around, put a 120G HDD into it, no OS, just use it for storage and transferring files from one pc to the other, it's came in very handy, and as Rosco404 says, usb 2.0 transfer is fast indeed. Just shows up as an extra drive in My Computer.
Rosco404 is absolutely right. A firewire(IEEE1394 400 or 800) external HDD also offers another option as a means of transferring your data rapidly but may be more expensive. My advice to you is to first figure out the most important reason for adding this drive and then proceed from there. By this I mean are you only interested in storage of new or existing data on your internal drive(full, incremental or differential backup etc). Also look at the accompanying software if you intend to use it for data storage. Think about whether or not you want to run a sepate OS which will determine how you format your drive and do you want to perform tasks like video editing and storage which means that you are better off with a fast transfer rate and a large sized drive. If you intend to use it on a network later on then this may determine whether you buy a simple external HDD or a network attached storage device(NAT),etc. Also see whether the drive spins down when not in use so that it doesn't overheat. Even some new drives on the market suffer from overheating which leads to crashes and data loss. Try to get a drive with an internal fan. This may seem ridiculously obvious but there are new drives which don't have this. Go to http://www.cnet.com, click on the storage option and research the drive you intend to buy. Be sure to read the reviews.
i would be wary about which model you purchase , i have two perfectly good freecom usb hardrives running on xp which i got to back up my photos music files etc, however i am having a real bad time with my pc if i update my pc with latest xp updates they crash my pc, if i leave unpatched they are fine , i have since found out ms say its an issue, but offer no constructive help,i am in the position of dispose of 200 pounds of storage drives or patch my pc apparently another story i was told is that support for freecom drives has been withdrawn how true i dont know,all i know is i cannot get help from either the makers nor the os makers which sucks bigtime so beware what you buy
