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Andy D
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« on: 09:21:15, 24-12-2007 » |
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There's nowhere at present dedicated to posts about computer hardware, software, broadband etc unless your post is music related ie http://r3ok.myforum365.com/index.php?board=21.0Inevitably most posts end up in the Grumpy Room since people are usually complaining about their ISP. Perhaps some of the "staff"  here could organise a more appropriate location? |
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Andy D
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« Reply #1 on: 09:39:18, 24-12-2007 » |
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I've just taken delivery of a new external hard drive which I got from http://www.lowestonweb.com/. They really are so cheap now that it makes sense for anyone to get one - this one is 250GB and cost me just under £50 incl p&p. I've already got 2 smaller portable 80GB drives, which are ideal for taking data to another location or for plugging into a laptop, since they don't need a separate power supply but get their power directly from the USB connection. The main reason, as far as I can see, for having an external drive, rather than increasing the size of the drive inside your computer, is for backup. If you've got all your photos sitting on your computer and nowhere else, beware! - when the hard drive fails, you'll probably have lost the lot. The new hard drive comes with a CD containing "Simple Store backup software" - which I don't intend to use since I've got a backup program which I wrote myself - but presumably this makes backing up a fairly painless process. |
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increpatio
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« Reply #2 on: 09:54:28, 24-12-2007 » |
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The main reason, as far as I can see, for having an external drive, rather than increasing the size of the drive inside your computer, is for backup. That's not the reason I got mine, and neither is it the reason my friends got theirs (at least three I can think of off hand); if people have laptops, there's usually no way to increase hard-disk space. Also, if you have multiple computers, it *can* be easier to just store your documents on an external hd and plug into whatever one you're using (maybe if I had a wireless network at home that wouldn't be an issue at all). For sharing one's entire media library with friends, it's not as bit a deal to give them a hd for a night or two as to give them one's laptop. Also for those of us who can't be bothered to open up the case and stick one in, external one's can be handy. |
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Andy D
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« Reply #3 on: 10:32:28, 24-12-2007 » |
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Those are all good reasons too incy. But I found that my 2 small HDs were getting clogged up with backups - I'm now going to put the backups on the new HD and use the 2 small ones for the sort of things you say.
Even if you're using a desktop, rather than a laptop, if the HD is getting full, it's still better (and easier) to get an external HD rather than install a bigger drive in the computer. Don't put all your eggs in one basket - HDs fail!
Also backups are so important and it often seems to be a job that people are going to get round to doing tomorrow.
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« Last Edit: 10:35:04, 24-12-2007 by Andy D »
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Ian Pace
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« Reply #4 on: 10:43:59, 24-12-2007 » |
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I just recently got an external hard drive as well. Despite having a large capacity (140GB) on my laptop, it's really worth transferring data onto that, simply because it clears up the computer's main storage and tends to make it run more quickly. However, external hard drives can easily be destroyed by being dropped, so it's equally important to keep other back-ups, on DVD-ROMS or whatever. But it's also much easier to transport an external hard drive around than to take the whole laptop, if one wants to access a load of data on different computers.
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« Last Edit: 10:47:45, 24-12-2007 by Ian Pace »
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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opilec
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« Reply #5 on: 10:48:50, 24-12-2007 » |
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Both my E and D drives have more or less packed up (in that order) in the last few months. I bought an external CD/DVD-RW drive, which is just about keeping me going, but suspect that 2008 will see me having to fork out for a new machine entirely ...  I use two cheap brick-like 40GB mp3 players for backup purposes. |
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HtoHe
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« Reply #6 on: 11:04:42, 24-12-2007 » |
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Don't put all your eggs in one basket - HDs fail!
Or get stolen, Andy. I bought a 250GB external hard drive a few years ago. It cost about double what yours did, but I suppose that's what happens with hardware prices. I actually bought it because of all the problems caused when my old hard drive did fail, but I keep it at my brother's place so if my house gets burgled or burns down I have copies of all my work and personal files, my Outlook files and my internet favourites up to the date of my last back-up. At £90 it was well worth buying because of the importance of these files to me so at £50 or less it looks like something almost everyone should get. |
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Bryn
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« Reply #7 on: 11:07:17, 24-12-2007 » |
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Both my E and D drives have more or less packed up (in that order) in the last few months. I bought an external CD/DVD-RW drive, which is just about keeping me going, but suspect that 2008 will see me having to fork out for a new machine entirely ... I use two cheap brick-like 40GB mp3 players for backup purposes. I have a little over a terabyte of external hard discs attached to this laptop, 1x465GB, 1x298GB and 1x232GB. There are a few other external USB2 drives I hook up when needed. The trouble is, when I try to add the fifth, all Hell breaks loose, and the OS starts cycling between them. A Ctrl-Alt-Del has no effect. I have to switch off. I thought USB2 was supposed to be able to support rather more than five peripherals. Hard Drives are so cheap compared to even a couple of years ago that failing to back up your main drive to one is dafter than ever. Must get round to it some day. |
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opilec
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« Reply #8 on: 11:14:05, 24-12-2007 » |
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Blimey, Bryn, I can't imagine using that much space! (Or perhaps I can: instead of being choosy about music downloads, I'd probably just download everything in sight - er, I mean, sound ...  ) I was warned about adding on too many peripherals - they tend to slow down a small machine like this (it was a big machine when I got it, but now ... ). And when these things start dying, it's no doubt best to replace the whole thing before it finally expires. |
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Bryn
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« Reply #9 on: 11:26:45, 24-12-2007 » |
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opilec, stuff recorded at 96/24 takes up quite a bit of that space. There are also some files at 192/24. Currently having a go at recording the complete Ruggles ( 2LPs) to HD at 88.2/24, ready for cleaning up and then downsampling and noise shaping to 44.1/16 to burn to CD-Rs. At 88.2/24, the 16 minutes of Suntreader alone takes half a GB.
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opilec
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« Reply #10 on: 11:31:57, 24-12-2007 » |
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Bryn, you've lost me completely, but I take your word for it!  (Don't explain it to me, because I'd only end up wanting to try it myself and having the same problem! ) |
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time_is_now
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« Reply #11 on: 13:34:14, 24-12-2007 » |
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Hard Drives are so cheap compared to even a couple of years ago that failing to back up your main drive to one is dafter than ever. Must get round to it some day. Hmmm ... My sentiments exactly! |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #12 on: 14:32:41, 24-12-2007 » |
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Have I just seen Andy's avatar change before my very eyes? Bring back the aardvark. (I remember some bus company choosing a name starting with A as it was "alphabetically favoured". For some reason they didn't call it Aardvark.)
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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Andy D
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« Reply #13 on: 14:43:45, 24-12-2007 » |
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Have I just seen Andy's avatar change before my very eyes? Bring back the aardvark. (I remember some bus company choosing a name starting with A as it was "alphabetically favoured". For some reason they didn't call it Aardvark.)
He will return! |
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #14 on: 15:16:17, 24-12-2007 » |
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He has, and then I saw him go again. I thought we could only view changes when we re-viewed a page.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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