External USB 2.0 drives (or firewire) can be almost as
fast as internal drives. They are perfect for backups of
the operating system and programs. But, they are also
good for data storage (DOC, XLS, JPG, MP3, MOV, etc). But
sure that your PC has either USB 2.0 (not just 1.1) and/or
firewire. USB 1.1 will work, but it is S_L__O___W.
I would not recommend installing programs on the external
drive, since most modern programs also toss a few files on
C:\ and modify the registry. Fully-self-contained
programs could be run from an external drive. The
operating system must be on an internal drive, floppy, or
CD.
Any PC running XP should be able to access an external
drive within seconds after it is plugged into the PC. You
should not need to provide drivers. Of course, the very
first time you plug it in, you may need to format the
disk. Use te XP disk management tool.
The only exception to easy access is if you have used the
power of XP and NTFS format to protect files. Then, I am
less certain of whether general access will be granted.
If you use FAT32 on the external drive, protection is
essentially non-existant, and anyone can access the files.
With respect to traveling, there are external disks as
small as the palm of your hand. Some are even self-
powered by the USB or firewire.
>-----Original Message-----
>Hey there...
>
>Got a question for you guys...
>
>What is the best way to use an external HD?
>i dont want to have my internal HD full, but i need to
>know what kind of files/folders can i move to the
>external HD without risking my actual computer speed.
>
>Can i move just the movie-clips (tons of tem), my
>documents and all that?
>
>I got a laptop also which i use when traveling... so i
>would like to be able to access the information in the
>external HD... is that complicated? or is just a simple
>process once i move all the info to the external HD?
>
>any suggestion on what to move to make my desktop faster?
>
>
>Thanks
>.
>
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