external drive queries

[Jo-Anne Naples]

I'm using Windows XP, SP3 on my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer, which has
a 60GB internal hard drive and USB2. I want to be able to clone my internal
hard drive to an external USB drive (or more than one, for security). I've
been getting great information and advice here about these drives. After
reading through everything, I have a few more questions:

1. If I clone my internal hard drive to an external USB drive and the
internal drive crashes, how difficult would it be to install the external
drive in my computer in place of the dead drive? I've been told here that
all you need to do is take the external drive out of its USB enclosure and
put it into the computer in place of the drive that's there. Would I need
adapters or anything else that I might not have on hand? As far as I know,
my computer can handle a large (>137GB) internal drive--although I'll make
sure before I buy one.

2. I believe external drives are generally FAT32 format whereas internal
drives are NTFS (mine is NTFS for sure). a. Would that be an issue
in connecting the external drive internally?
b. Would it be wise to reformat the external drive?
c. Would cloning the internal drive onto the external drive reformat the
external drive?

3. Originally I planned to get a very large external drive. However, given
that my internal drive is only 60GB and I haven't used even half of it,
would it make more sense to get, say, a 160GB external drive if it would be
used only as a clone for the internal drive? (Someone suggested that I
simply get a large internal drive, clone the smaller drive to it, and switch
the larger one to become the main drive. I may decide to do that as well,
but I like the idea of being able to store the external drive away from the
computer.)

4. I've gotten conflicting opinions on whether to get a desktop external
drive or a portable:
a. Is either type more reliable generally?
b. Are there particular drives whose housing allows better airflow than
others--or that even have a fan? I've been told I could just put together my
own drive, using a good enclosure, but I'm not sure I'm up to that.

Sorry to keep coming up with more questions! I've been using a computer for
many years and backing up my data as best I can, but this is the first time
I've thought about how to deal with a major crash.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Andrew E.]

Youre best bet,purchase a internal hd & forget the external one.Internal
can/could run along side youre current one or visa versa,youre usb cant.
Certainly you can add another IDE hd to the pc,plus,to clone a IDE hd,xp
already can do that with XCOPY,no 3rd party software is needed.Plus an IDE
hd can be used as a page file to the OS,this gets you some free memory plus
helps prevent fragmented files...

 

[Jo-Anne Naples]

Thank you, Andrew! I'll keep this in mind.

Jo-Anne

 

[Bill in Co.]

Youre best bet,purchase a internal hd & forget the external one.Internal
can/could run along side youre current one or visa versa,youre usb cant.
Certainly you can add another IDE hd to the pc,plus,to clone a IDE hd,xp
already can do that with XCOPY,no 3rd party software is needed.Plus an IDE
hd can be used as a page file to the OS,this gets you some free memory
plus
helps prevent fragmented files...

It depends on the *type* of external HD enclosure you're looking at. (In
my case, it's a bit of a nuisance to have to do so, but it can be done, if
necessary).

But, as Anna pointed out, there are also some factory made external drives
that are a complete package with the HD included inside, and not just an
"enclosure" (mine was just an "enclosure" - I put a HD drive inside of it),
but you might have a problem if the drive inside is not replaceable and IF
the "need" should arise for such a thing. But - see below:

For me, if my *internal* HD ever failed, I'd just install a fresh new one,
and then use my external USB HD enclosure to restore the backup image to the
new drive, so THAT is not an issue. So, see what I mean? IOW, it
doesn't have to be an issue, in other words. But if you insist on having
a swappable drive, then it would make sense to get just the USB enclosure
(likely without a drive inside or make sure the drive inside is
replaceable), and put a new drive inside of it yourself, so that you could
pull it out later if you wanted to.

 

[GHalleck]

Replied in-line:

I'm using Windows XP, SP3 on my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer, which has
a 60GB internal hard drive and USB2. I want to be able to clone my internal
hard drive to an external USB drive (or more than one, for security). I've
been getting great information and advice here about these drives. After
reading through everything, I have a few more questions:

1. If I clone my internal hard drive to an external USB drive and the
internal drive crashes, how difficult would it be to install the external
drive in my computer in place of the dead drive? I've been told here that
all you need to do is take the external drive out of its USB enclosure and
put it into the computer in place of the drive that's there. Would I need
adapters or anything else that I might not have on hand? As far as I know,
my computer can handle a large (>137GB) internal drive--although I'll make
sure before I buy one.

Get a hard drive that is compatible with the one that is currently in
use in the computer. For example, if the computer's hard drive is IDE,
then buy an IDE hard drive and USB enclosure (or dock) that will handle
an IDE HD. Similarly, if the computer's current hard drive is SATA, then
buy an SATA hard drive and enclosure that will handle it. Why pay extra
for an already-built external HD when it it might be eventually taken
apart.

Or if cloning and storing the cloned drive is the only intent, use a
naked HD and an USB/Firewire dock (e.g., Wiebe Tech, for good quality)
and forget about an enclosure altogether. When the cloning is done,
simply put the HD back into its anti-static bag and store away properly.

2. I believe external drives are generally FAT32 format whereas internal
drives are NTFS (mine is NTFS for sure). a. Would that be an issue
in connecting the external drive internally?
b. Would it be wise to reformat the external drive?
c. Would cloning the internal drive onto the external drive reformat the
external drive?

When the external HD is cloned, such as by Acronis TrueImage, then its
partition(s) take on the properties of the source partition(s). Thusly,
by cloning, the target HD partition will be formatted according to the
source HD partition, e.g., NTFS Drive C on source will clone to an NTFS
Drive C on the target HD; FAT32 Drive D on source to FAT32 Drive D on
the target HD.

3. Originally I planned to get a very large external drive. However, given
that my internal drive is only 60GB and I haven't used even half of it,
would it make more sense to get, say, a 160GB external drive if it would be
used only as a clone for the internal drive? (Someone suggested that I
simply get a large internal drive, clone the smaller drive to it, and switch
the larger one to become the main drive. I may decide to do that as well,
but I like the idea of being able to store the external drive away from the
computer.)

That can certainly happen, resulting in proportionally larger partitions.
Cloning not only duplicates the original source HD but also preserves the
source HD for future use if it is re-installed.

4. I've gotten conflicting opinions on whether to get a desktop external
drive or a portable:
a. Is either type more reliable generally?
b. Are there particular drives whose housing allows better airflow than
others--or that even have a fan? I've been told I could just put together my
own drive, using a good enclosure, but I'm not sure I'm up to that.

We use good quality metallic USB/Firewire enclosures, e.g., Adaptec or
NexStar. They sit on surfaces that are exposed to room ambient, usually
68 to 72 degrees F. No problems with overheating or failures.

For USB/Firewire drive docks, we use Wiebe Tech.

Sorry to keep coming up with more questions! I've been using a computer for
many years and backing up my data as best I can, but this is the first time
I've thought about how to deal with a major crash.

How have you been backing up? Today's external drive enclosures are
offsprings of Bernouli, ZIP, JAZ, external SCSI, etc., external drives.

 

[Bill Ridgeway]

Jo-Anne Naples wrote << I believe external drives are generally FAT32 format
whereas internal drives are NTFS>>

It is easy to convert from FAT32 to NTFS. Click on <Start><Run> and type
convert D: /fs:ntfs (where D is the target drive)



It is advisable to get a full back up first.



You will then get the advantages of NTFS. Others may wish to advise on any
drawbacks from doing such a conversion?



Bill Ridgeway

 

[Lil' Dave]

I'm using Windows XP, SP3 on my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer, which
has a 60GB internal hard drive and USB2. I want to be able to clone my
internal hard drive to an external USB drive (or more than one, for
security). I've been getting great information and advice here about these
drives. After reading through everything, I have a few more questions:

1. If I clone my internal hard drive to an external USB drive and the
internal drive crashes, how difficult would it be to install the external
drive in my computer in place of the dead drive? I've been told here that
all you need to do is take the external drive out of its USB enclosure and
put it into the computer in place of the drive that's there. Would I need
adapters or anything else that I might not have on hand? As far as I know,
my computer can handle a large (>137GB) internal drive--although I'll make
sure before I buy one.

Be sure the hard drive in the external case is the same bus type as your
onboard hard drive. That is, ide for ide, SATA for SATA.

2. I believe external drives are generally FAT32 format whereas internal
drives are NTFS (mine is NTFS for sure). a. Would that be an issue
in connecting the external drive internally?
b. Would it be wise to reformat the external drive?
c. Would cloning the internal drive onto the external drive reformat
the external drive?

A genuine cloning software will wipe the external and use exactly the same
format that it sources from the internal hard drive partition(s).

3. Originally I planned to get a very large external drive. However, given
that my internal drive is only 60GB and I haven't used even half of it,
would it make more sense to get, say, a 160GB external drive if it would
be used only as a clone for the internal drive? (Someone suggested that I
simply get a large internal drive, clone the smaller drive to it, and
switch the larger one to become the main drive. I may decide to do that as
well, but I like the idea of being able to store the external drive away
from the computer.)

In the case of a cloned hard drive, it must be as large or larger capacity
than the one being copied.

4. I've gotten conflicting opinions on whether to get a desktop external
drive or a portable:
a. Is either type more reliable generally?
b. Are there particular drives whose housing allows better airflow than
others--or that even have a fan? I've been told I could just put together
my own drive, using a good enclosure, but I'm not sure I'm up to that.

Get one that uses an AC power source, not sourcing power from USB.

Generally speaking, if the external enclosure has a relatively large case,
it won't need internal fan cooling. If the external case is relatively
small, a fan or fans may be needed to provide adequate cooling. Metal case
such as aluminum is best as it sheds heat the best.

Most of the enclosures use too small a screw that the usual household has
the available screwdriver. You'll need to track down such a screwdriver,
normally available as a kit with other small screwdrivers.

Its not terribly difficult to install OR remove the hard drive from an
external enclosure. The ready to use models usually have anti-pilferage
tape or similar on securing screws to prevent tampering, tampering voids
their warranty.

If you choose to get a large hard drive be sure your onboard bios recognizes
its capacity, AND, your external enclosure's firmware is up to its capacity
as well.