Computer Hard Drive Tips
October 16, 2010
You can never have a big enough Computer Hard Drive, right?
That’s the way it seems anyway. You may have an older laptop or desktop that is still in great condition and performs well. The only thing it may be lacking is a bigger computer hard drive. There is good news. Usually for less than $100.00 you can solve this problem. There is no need to buy a new system just to get a bigger computer hard drive.
There are many good computer external hard drives available that can plug in to your computer using a USB connection. Also, if you buy a new computer your USB hard drive will still work with the new system. So the money you spent will not be wasted. When searching to buy an External USB hard drive there are two main types of computer hard drives to consider.
- 3.5 inch computer hard drives
- 2.5 inch and less computer hard drives
The larger 3.5 inch computer hard drives require a power cord to operate. They have a power cord that plugs into a wall outlet. These units are bigger and usually sit on a desk or table. They can be moved but are generally not carried around like a laptop. To use the external hard drive you must turn on your laptop or desktop computer, turn on your external 3.5 inch hard drive and then plug the hard drive into the USB port on your computer. Your computer recognizes the hard drive and the extra computer hard drive and is ready to be used.
The key point is to turn on the computer and hard drive and then the last step is to make the connection between the two via a USB connection. The big advantage of these units over the smaller 2.5 inch hard drives is these drives usually have more space. Some of these unit can contain up to 2TB (terabytes) of computer hard drive space.
So let put that into terms we can understand. Let’s say a typical song is 4MB (Megabytes). A 2TB computer external hard drive will store about 500,000 songs! Not bad, right?
Here is a rundown of what some common hard drives can hold:
250GB holds on average
- 50,000 digital photos
- 62,000 MP3 songs
- 96 hours of DVD quality video
500GB holds on average
- 100,000 digital photos
- 125,000 MP3 songs
- 190 hours of DVD quality video
The smaller 2.5 inch and less computer hard drives are a little easier to use and more portable. These units can be carried around with you. Some units are relatively small and can fit into your back pocket. Some units are even smaller.
To use these units you just turn on your computer and make the connection using the USB cord. These units get their power from the USB cord. They do not require an external power source like the larger 3.5 hard drives do. Sometimes you will see a USB cord with two connections on one end. This is because some units require more power and one USB connection is not enough.
In addition, you may have a USB port expander. This device turns one USB port into four or more. Sometimes computer external hard drives do not work too well plugged into USB expanders because there is not enough power. So before purchasing a 2.5 inch hard drive make sure you have at least two USB ports close together on your computer in case your unit needs the extra power.
The next question is how to use your new computer hard drive?
If you purchased the unit for backup only then you are in luck. Most come with software to automatically back up your data. For example Western Digital computer hard drives have some real nice features for backup that I like:
- Seeing you backup as it happens. You get a visual display that shows the progress of your back up.
- Automatically protecting your data. Whenever you add or change a file a backup copy is made.
- Restore your files effortlessly. It’s easy to retrieve your data back to its original location whenever your want.
- Organize your data. Software features that allows you to customize your backup and run diagnostics.
- Locks your data with 256-bit hardware based encryption.
Other manufactures have a combination of hardware and software that provides similar features that makes it easy to securely backup your data as well. If you purchased your computer external hard drive for use because you are running out of space then you will want to move your data to your new drive.
Notice I said data and not programs. There are ways to actually move your programs to a new drive but they usually require a reinstall of the program. My advice is not to do this but rather mover your data only. This option is much easier. So, locate the files and folders you wish to move and drag and drop them into the new location on the external hard drive. That’s it. Very simple and easy. After you have confirmed that the new files are stored safely on the external hard drive you are now ready to free some space on your internal drive by deleting any unnecessary files. After cleaning everything up you can run your disk clean up program.
For more information on the disk clean up program follow the following links:
The disk clean up program will help your computer run a little faster. Depending on how bad or how much it has to clean up. You may or may not see any difference. This program removes temporary files and empties your Recycle Bin. I usually run mine once every few weeks depending on how much I have deleted.