Dell complaints

[Truthfinder]

I'm new, and I will post my story (the Reader’s Digest version) over where it belongs, but for reasons I won’t go into here, I need to back up my data on this Dell so that I can get it worked on!!! It is a Dimension 4700 that I got about a year ago with lots of big problems. My CD burner eats (ruins/damages) brand new CDs instead of formatting them (Sonic Record Now), and I have too much data for floppies or for the Flash Memory Key that I got but have been afraid to use (another story).

I’m looking for a good, reliable not-too-expensive USB 40-60 GB (or so) external HD. There is more to know about this than I really want to.

I am pretty ignorant about most computer things, so bear with me please.

Maybe I should start by showing you what I am thinking of getting and you can tell me where I am going wrong. I’ll use 40GB HDs as examples, but I may get a 60MB.

http://www.computer-memory-store.com/20gb-external-usb-hard-drives.html

I’m looking at the first two HDs listed – both have Hitachi HDs, but one is a mini disk (1.8”) which should run on bus power. The other is a 2.5” disc which may or may not need a power adapter. The more expensive “mini” doesn’t talk about disc speed or any kind of cache or buffer. The other one says it has an 8 MB cache, but that isn’t really the same as a buffer. Well, at least both have a 3-year warranty, and we all know how well those work, ha, ha.

Should I assume that the “mini” 1.8” HD will be slower than the 2.5”?

Should I even worry about not having to use an additional power outlet?

Should I go with more of a name brand thing and pay more $$?

Actually, I did find an external HD that uses 2 USB ports for power for about $90:
http://www.xpcgear.com/40gbue201.html

This already too long. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Truthfinder

[ShaftDu]

what i do is get an enclosure instead of getting the whole external HDD. With an enclosure, you can go out and pay any internal HDD and put it in there. Plus you don't have to worry about install any of the company's software crap. With Maxtor, you have to install their program and it doesn't come up as another drive letter.

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

I don't 'know' which external HDDs are good and which are bad. Maxtor's sounds not all that good, since it layers software (and you're already having trouble with that). Powering from USB is iffy too. On most Dells, the USB power wires are all connected together, so plugging into two sockets accomplishes nothing, might blow the fuse (then NO USBs would work).

9090 HDD diag will not destroy your data, unless the drive was already going to fail anyway and just running it destroys it. Some vendor diags write to otherwise-protected sectors unless you specifically tell them not to, but you're not dealing with vendor diags.

The cheapest, most rugged solution involves opening the box, and I understand you're not comfortable with that. It can't shock you, but there is a bewildering array of wires and stuff if you're not familiar with it. I forgot if 4700 shipped with SATA but I think it did. Makes it simpler. The HDD is in the lower-front of the chassis. There are two groups of wires going to it, a red/yellow/black set of regular wires ending in a white plastic cap, and a blue wire that looks thicker, like two audio cables stuck together. The blue wire is the SATA and the regular wires are power, and there are SPARE power hookups connected to that same bunch, with a soft black plastic cover over the ones that aren't used. Buy a 40GB SATA drive and a SATA cable. Follow the existing SATA cable to its socket on the motherboard. There will be another socket like that, with nothing connected to it, nearby. Plug one of the spare power connectors into the new drive, you can't do it wrong, it will only go in one way. Plug the SATA cable into the drive and the motherboard (it also will only go in 'correctly'). Lay the drive next to the existing one, it doesn't have to be screwed down, just don't mechanically disturb the case while it's running. Hit F2 at startup and go to 'drives' in BIOS, turn #2 'ON', ESC, right arrow, ENTER to exit setup. You should now have a 'D' or 'E' drive, they're supposed to come already formatted, you can make and fill folders on it just like on 'C'. Too technical? Ask around some more about USB harddrives.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[sickofdell]

[hotrodlincoln]

I've bought external USB 2.0 drives, and I've bought enclosures to hold spare hard drives that I had layong around. Either choice is fine.

Do be aware that any hard drive over 150 gigabyte capacity may require you to jump through a few extra hoops during setup. When I bought a Seagate 300 gig external drive, Windows XP SP2 demanded that I format it at 137 gig for one partition, then partition up the rest because "the BIOS may not recognize a drive partition greater than 137 gig". So I had to follow it's installation routine, then fire up Partition Commandeer to set the drive up the way I wanted it to look like. BTW, I've heard so many horror stories about Partition Magic ever since Symantec bought ot that I'll never use it from this day forward. I think that it's user interface is a litle cleaner than Partition Commandeer's, but I value quality code over a pretty look any day of the week.

[Truthfinder]

You guys have been really great! And you may have solved my biggest Christmas shopping dilemma, too.

Gee, ShaftDu, I’m not allowed to go near anything important with a screwdriver in my hand……..

Rocke T Sinetist (love that), thanks for the heads-up about using 2 USB ports. I’m still going to wait to run the HD diag just to be on the safe side. Also, see my answer to ShaftDu and thanks for having more faith in my abilities than I do.

Sickofdell, I checked out the link you posted, and the more I looked at it, the better I liked it. I had to do a little more digging to try and find out how big the thing is and how heavy it is. I am a little bit cramped for space around my computer. The information varies, but one place said it weighs less than a pound. Walmart says it is a 2.5” drive, but elsewhere I seem to find that this design holds 3.5” drives. I’m not sure I need to care – just trying to get as much info as I can. Thank you so much for your input!!!

I like this drive so much, I think I may get two of them – one for my brother for Christmas. He needs one – he just doesn’t know it yet. His laptop/notebook computer is a few years old, and he’s going to be getting a new laptop/notebook computer in the fairly near future, but says he thinks he wants to go “wireless”, something I know nothing about . I’ve Googled this question in various ways, but I can’t seem able to determine:

Is a USB external HD going to work with a “wireless” computer? (I’m sorry to be so ignorant – I really have tried to find this answer on my own……)

Hotrodlincoln, good advice should I ever need a higher capacity external HD.

Well, I hope someone can answer what I hope will be my final question on this topic……. I will check back a little later today.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the advice and input.
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Truthfinder

[Rocke_T_Sinetist]

USB is a 'wired' standard, so the 'wirelessness' of a platform doesn't alter anything with regard to USB.

"More GB" is only useful if you really use it, as in, making or collecting media (audio/video) files or collecting installed software (games, etc). My relic (1998) XPS came with 8GB, a little on the stingy side even back then. Still, almost 7GB is unused 6 years later. (WXP is 'a little more expansive' than W98. )

Truth doesn't need to backup the entire HDD, just the user files (you can't boot to USB HDDs anyhow, that I know of). So don't shop for GBs unless you really NEED them, just ease of installation and use.
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Rocke T Sinetist
as in, 'it doesn't take a...'

[sickofdell]

[Truthfinder]

Well, cool! One less thing to worry about…….

Rocket_T, I originally started looking for just a 20GB HD. There aren’t many out there, and I guess in the era of “bloatware”, getting way more than I need might pay off down the road. Besides, you never know when I might get offered a job at NASA or something….

Sickofdell, thanks for the additional info about the drive. I think it will fit around here someplace, as long as it isn’t too claustrophobic.

Well, I think I will go shopping……… see you guys later!
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Truthfinder

[delltech_jeremy]

for godssakes dont get a maxtor. as far as brand names go, i seem to replace more maxtors than anything. Western Digital is one that i very rarely replace (and we're talking about internal drives at the moment) but as far as the name goes, i doubt you can go wrong with them....


OF COURSE, WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RELY UPON A COMPANY'S NAME lol

good luck!
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[Truthfinder]

Thanks, Jeremy - fortunately, some other folks already warned me about Maxtor. So glad I talked to the right people. At one point, I was looking at a Western Digital, and I think they have a pretty good rep.

I really needed to get this done, so I went ahead and ordered the Seagate 80 GB one yesterday. Hope it will do the job and last me awhile.

I ordered one for my brother, too. He will think I have lost my mind. Well, I should say, this will just confirm it for him, LOL. I think he may be using flash drives for back-up, which I have heard is really not a great idea. Not sure why...... reliability?

Well, as they say: "You pays your money and you takes your chances".
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Truthfinder