HAY GUYS

Cetra · Local time: Nov 28, 2007, 08:35 PM

I've checked my hardware listing in Windows numerous times, and it's clear that I have USB2 since one of the entries is labelled as "enhanced"...but obviously it isn't working, unless only certain USB ports on my system are 2.0...which would be absurd and stupid. I could care less at this point, since a firewire card is only like, $20, and performs very well.

And yes, an external HDD performs in the same manner as your regular old HDs...but some of them have to spin up if you don't use them for a couple of minutes or so, which can become annoying.

I have both a firewire and a USB2 version as well. The USB2 version is much slower than my premium drive as well. It's fine for me though since I just use it as long term mass storage device.

Quote:

I have a question. I just bought an external one. Will I be able to watch videos right from the HDD using USB2.0? Can I install an OS on my drive?

Thanks.

I watch VC-1 encoded 1080p movies off of my USB2 drive without issue. As long as you are not trying to watch a HD movie with an uncompressed audio stream it should be fine.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Cetra · 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by baconharvester

Anyone know any good programs to check hard drive health?

All hard drive manufacturers offer a diagnostic program/tool. You are better off using the one that matches your drive as these programs allow for a much safer low level testing without the fear of data loss on the drive. They tend to be far more accurate too than generic drive testing software. Fortunately Western Digital has an especially rich software suite for this sort of thing with their Data Lifeguard software.

There's nowhere I can't reach.