Using a 1TB external harddrive for main storage

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b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 42078 28-Sep-2009 22:05

hello all =]
im wondering would it be good to move all of my files onto a 1TB external hard-drive?
will it speed up my performance?
how do i go about doing something like this?
is it just a copy+paste and delete.
thanks all
=]

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# 259172 28-Sep-2009 22:42

Are you using a PC or a Mac?

What kind of connections does your computer and HDD have? (eSATA, Firewire, USB, etc)

What kinds of files are you planning on transferring across?

A few more specific details will help you get a better answer!

b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 259243 29-Sep-2009 07:05

im using a pc.
it has usb connections.
im planning to transfer almost all my files (games movies pics songs)
ty

johnr

19282 posts

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# 259250 29-Sep-2009 08:16

does your pc support usb 2.0 you are providing very little detail we maybe geeks but i am sure we don't come with esp

b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 259259 29-Sep-2009 08:51

yes it has usb 2.0
sorry im new 0.0

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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# 259267 29-Sep-2009 09:09

I have 4TB in external storage... But I would not use it for my main storage. There's no way to compare the speed you get with an internal SATA drive. In general the internal SATA drives are fasters models, with more cache memory.

Also at some stage you will need to change the USB port because you want to use a port for some specific reason. And you will find out somethings don't work, Windows changes the assigned drive letter, and so on.

Save yourself the trouble, and use an external drive for backup only and a nice internal drive for main storage.

My technology disclosure | Digital Transformation | Enterprise Content Management | Customer Relationship Management | Data Insights, Business Intelligence and Advanced Analytics

b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 259275 29-Sep-2009 09:23

thanks freitasm! =]
so would i be better to buy more ram?
i currently have 2gb ram, but in folders, and start menu its really slow
and takes forever to turn on and off. i have deleted all my startup programmes and
defragged millions of times. also i have used ccleaner and all these other programmes.
what can i do? 0.0

wellygary

3992 posts

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# 259276 29-Sep-2009 09:27

b0untypure1: thanks freitasm! =]
so would i be better to buy more ram?
i currently have 2gb ram, but in folders, and start menu its really slow
and takes forever to turn on and off. i have deleted all my startup programmes and
defragged millions of times. also i have used ccleaner and all these other programmes.
what can i do? 0.0

working out what is making a machine run slow, can be like finding a needle in a haystack,

What are the current specs of the Machine you are running?

OS/ Processsor/ RAM / Video Card/ HDD capacity and % used.

b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 259278 29-Sep-2009 09:31

windows vista, intel core duo 2 duo,2gb ram (2x1gb) , nivdia 8600gt? but anyway its 512mb graphics card, expandable to 1 and a half gb. capacity is 200gb and i have used 120gb.
thanks

wellygary

3992 posts

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# 259281 29-Sep-2009 09:45

b0untypure1: windows vista, intel core duo 2 duo,2gb ram (2x1gb) , nivdia 8600gt? but anyway its 512mb graphics card, expandable to 1 and a half gb. capacity is 200gb and i have used 120gb.
thanks

You dont appear to be overly hardware limited,
I would backup the files you want to keep, and do a clean install of Vista.

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
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# 259285 29-Sep-2009 09:52

I would scrap Vista, and go with almost any other OS (including XP or Windows 7).

Also, a problem that can be solved by moving stuff to a different drive is almost certainly a different problem to one that can be solved by getting more memory.

You can't just move files if other things depend on them - e.g. an installed program or game cant just be copied and pasted elsewhere, it will stop working.

Maybe your media program has playlist or library data that expects to find your music in a certain place.

vinnieg

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# 259291 29-Sep-2009 10:10

b0untypure1: windows vista, intel core duo 2 duo,2gb ram (2x1gb) , nivdia 8600gt? but anyway its 512mb graphics card, expandable to 1 and a half gb. capacity is 200gb and i have used 120gb.
thanks

If you goto My COmputer and run the performance test, then write down your scores, it'll give you an idea :)

I know my old 250gb western digital slows my PC down rates at 5.0 on the Vista score :( but my 1TB Samsung F1 drive 5.9 on the vista score speeds it up a lot.

Is it a 32bit Vista install or 64bit? if you tried putting in another 2 sticks of 1gb ram(you should hopefully have 4 slots?) then that'll help out a lot. Vista is a memory hog as Tony and others have said. Mine runs beautifully on 8gb, but anything less than 4gb and I have trouble :(. Try the Windows 7 Ultimate RC it's incredibly fast even on 1gb ram. I've got it running on my 1005HA netbook, 2gb, 320gb HDD etc and it boots faster much much faster than my E7400 with 8gb ram at home and runs office 2007 faster :S

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

b0untypure1

1415 posts

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# 259293 29-Sep-2009 10:16

i think ill need more ram as you said, it is my lowest score in windows score index.
im running 32bit windows vista
processor 4.9
ram 4.5
graphics 4.6
gaming graphics 5.2
hard disk 4.9

thanks

Ragnor

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# 259295 29-Sep-2009 10:19

b0untypure1: thanks freitasm! =]
so would i be better to buy more ram?
i currently have 2gb ram, but in folders, and start menu its really slow
and takes forever to turn on and off. i have deleted all my startup programmes and
defragged millions of times. also i have used ccleaner and all these other programmes.
what can i do? 0.0

Have you tried using the Windows Task Manager to have a look at what processes or applications are hogging cpu/memory/disk. From the Windows Task Manager you can also get to the Resource Monitor which is pretty useful for checking out what's going on.

vinnieg

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# 259316 29-Sep-2009 11:10

Ouch yeah, those scores are a bit low for an 8600GT too in 2D mode, fine for the gaming graphics though, try upgrading to the latest Nvidia drivers

Turn the sidebar off - it's a horrible horrible app :)

When you buy more memory check the old sticks, they might only be DDR667, but you can mix and match DDR800 sticks with it :)

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

SepticSceptic

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# 259328 29-Sep-2009 11:46

Not a good idea to use an external drive for stuff that you cannot afford to lose. photos, documents, music, etc...
By their very nature, external HDD's get knocked about, rendering them more susceptible to failure.

As for your slow system - most Window OS's get bogged down after a year of use, with much the same symptoms. Recently I have noticed the popular free-ware virus scanners and firewalls have added extra features, and scan every file and folder open function for virus and malware signatures. Zonealarm and AVG are typical - ZA now includes virus and malware scanning; AVG now includes malware scans, and can conflict. Disable /uninstall extra features. Commercial "Internet Security Suites" are also afflicted with bloat - Symantec is one of the worst offenders, for me anyway.

My thoughts are no longer my own and is probably representative of our media-controlled government

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