External HDD Box

[kwokwai]

Cleaning my bedroom, and I found some PC magazines of three years ago.

Randomly pick up one of them, and I found an interesting FAQ in the last few pages:

A reader that is a newbie to PC (both software and Hardware), he asked the editor of the PC magazine a hardware question:
Here is what he said:
'...I have got two old HDDs, and there are a lot of important data in them.
They were removed from the old PC.
I want to read these data, but I don't know what I should do first...
Can you suggest an easy solution for me...'

The editor replied to this guy's question by suggesting him using '
External devices'
He told the man to purchase a external USB HDD case / box /pack, so that he can plug / insert the two old HDDs into this device. The device can be connected to the PC through USB, it is very convenient to resolve the problem, but just a bit expensive to do so...'

As the FAQs were asked and replied in Chinese language, so I have to translate into English.
I hope you know what I am talking about!

Actually, the PC world is developing fast, there should be a big change within three years of period.

I don't know if these external devices really exist in the world, but if they did, please let me know.

I have got a very old HDD of 2 GB, and have no idea of how to copy the data from it...:confused:

[bear]

Cheapest way would be to install it into your case as a slave drive, but if you really want it as an external drive, try this Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=external+hdd+enclosure&btnG=Google+Search). No longer expensive, and pretty straightforward to use. The only catch is, if you're still using Win98, you might not be able to use them all, since many are based on USB 2.0. Some may not work on the older USB that Win98 had.

[kwokwai]

Cheapest way would be to install it into your case as a slave drive, but if you really want it as an external drive, try this Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=external+hdd+enclosure&btnG=Google+Search). No longer expensive, and pretty straightforward to use. The only catch is, if you're still using Win98, you might not be able to use them all, since many are based on USB 2.0. Some may not work on the older USB that Win98 had.


Thank you so much for your help, bear!

I have just taken a quick look at their photos, but I could see that the device is not getting the power from the PC directly.
The package includes a power cable. XD

[bear]

No, a HDD requires a bit more power than can be reliably had from a USB port, but that's not what makes it incompatible with USB 1. It's the speed and negotiation...

[kwokwai]

No, a HDD requires a bit more power than can be reliably had from a USB port, but that's not what makes it incompatible with USB 1. It's the speed and negotiation...

Their prices can differ in up to $30 dollars(US), actually, they look the same, except that for those expensive EHD (External HardDisk Drive), their cases are bigger and the period of warranty is longer! :rofl:

[Zykaz]

There are actually some that are powered directly from the PC. These ones are usually in the 40 GB area. They're pretty nifty.

I use an external hard drive. A Seagate 160 GB monster. I've gotta say, I really like it. It holds only personal files, in a 130 GB ext2 Linux filesystem, and then another partition of 30 GB on fat32. I keep a copy of explore2fs on the fat32 space, to be able to browse my files if I connect it to a Windows computer. It's very nice having portable personal files. If I need to get any work done, I can simply bring along the external hard drive rather than lugging around one of my laptops, and being confined to using that specific laptop.

When I first got the external hard drive, I was a bit worried about whether USB 2.0 would be able to keep up with the rapid transmission of data that a Linux box does when accessing any data within /home (frequent access). Surprisingly, it keeps up, and I never noticed one bit of lag.

[bear]

No kidding? I never saw one that was powered from USB except for 2.5" HHDs. I was under the impression that USB didn't provide enough power...that must have changed since I last looked into this. Good to know.

[wera]

There is this this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817119503)

But these things work wonders i use theam when i go to friends house etc. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145232)

There are indeed externals as well http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144023

[kwokwai]

If HDD has got a Windows installed, then what will you see in 'My Computer'?

Can you double click the USB drive and just go into another Windows' Desktop? :confused:

[bear]

No, it won't be a 'bootable' installation. You can view and edit files, but not actually boot it. (although you could probably make it work that way...but it would be *very* slow)

[kwokwai]

You know the old HDD may have got more than one partition, so if you plug the external HDD through USB to the PC,
will the PC regard the partitions as removable USB storage drives or new partitions for the PC? :confused:

[bear]

It should see it as one device, I beleieve, with 2 partitions. Depending on your settings, it might map it as a networked drive and assign them letters.