Hi This is my first external hard drive so sorry if I sound I little ill-knowledged. Just bought this hard drive: Buffalo Drivestation 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buffalo-Dri...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1228754233&sr=1-2 Now I want to use this HD for avis, music mostly and to back up my documents. Just Two questions really 1. My Laptop is formatted in FAT32. (Acer TravelMate 250 ... 10GB hard drive left) I need to know If say for example my laptop is FAT32 and I format the External HD to NTFS ... will the two still be compatible? i.e can I save or transfer files from my laptop (FAT32) to the EXHD and will they work? or is this a big no no? OR does the Laptop and the External HD need to formatted the Same .g. FAT32 & FAT 32 or NTFS & NTSF? 2. Is it possible to save downloads (such as itunes or other sources i.e. torrents etc) directly onto the external hard drive? Anything else you may wanna share is cool (i.e. how to ensure maximum life of the Hard drive) etc. Thanks in advance
if using win2k or above then is ok to use both fat32 & ntfs as i do that on my system using xp pro. if have a file that is more then 4gigs in size then need to store that in ntfs partition as fat32 can't read past 4gigs. can store directly to external.
NTFS is preferable especially if you are using XP or Vista. All my externals (total 5) are NTFS formatted and have never had any issues where they weren't recognize. You can save directly to the external with no problem (as long as it is a USB2 connection otherwise there might be slowdown). Once your external shows up in "my computer" with a drive letter, it is treated as a normal hard drive. When I convert videos I sometimes save directly to the external with no problems. It's best not to keep the hard drive powered up all the time with no cooling fan. When I have to use my external drive for more than an hour I point a room fan on it, this will keep it cool. Some of my externals are 3 years old and still working great, I think this is because I only power them up when I need them and keep them cool with a fan.
Im on XP and my laptop is old and doesnt have USB2.0 (i dont think ... how do i Check?) ... possibly looking to get a good PC in future cos they are just so much cheaper compared to the laptop equivalent spend. Hmm I think this one comes with powersaving mode so If i turn laptop off then it will automatically turn off. TBH ... im seeing this external drive as ... well ... my 'main' drive. Want to use it to download all my avi's etc. ATM I cant afford to get another one for backing up my data twice (Although this one cost me £79). Most of my stuff I back up onto dvd anyway but this drive is useful to have. Im a bit worried that I may save lots and lots to this drive and then it will just stop on me But I guess that it just the way the cookie crumbles. My drive will be close to window ... hmm was gonna say 'so it would keep it cool' but what about condensation? I have an external dvd writer (Samsung one) and thats next to window .. get a 'lil' bit of condesation now and then but nothing too major ... it wont wreck my drive will it? PS: if I do get a PC ... can i just rip out this Hard drive and plop it into the PC? and would it mean its more 'stable' than having it externally? or is it the sad case of drives are drives and no guaranttee if it will fail. Overall ... I want to use this as my 'main' drive since my laptop only has like 4GB that I can really use atm. Is this dangerous? any views?
