External Hard Drives - USB 2.0 Essential?

Question

I am looking to buy a 250G external hard drive for my (somewhat elderly) PC, as it only has 10G internal memory.

All the ones I have seen say that they run via a USB 2.0 connection. My questions are, therefore:


1) How do I know if I have USB 2.0 ports on my PC??

2) If I don't have USB 2.0 ports, will the external hard drive still work?


I don't want to pay out for a new hard drive if it won't work!

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you only have 10gb hard drive space, chances are you will only have USB 1.0/1 ports.

The hard drive will still work but will be slower.

USB 1 transfers data at a maximum speed of 12Mbit/s
USB 2 transfers data at a maximum speed of 480Mbit/s

Quite a difference in speed.

But, before you think about buying a new PC:
Do you need a new PC or does the one you have work fine for you?
If the answer is the one you have is fine there are other options.

1. Buy a new internal hard drive. Nearly all PCs can accomodate a second hard drive inside the computer. They are easy to install even for a novice and come in all sizes, usually a hell of a lot cheaper than an external drive. Plus the transfer speed are better and you don't have a big box taking up valuable desk space.
There are plenty of online sites that will show you how to do this.
Once you have the drive in you can leave your operating system on the 10gig drive and put all your data on the new larger drive or re-install the operating system on the new larger drive and use the 10gig one for storage or backups.

If you are okay with re-installing your operating system and have backups of all your personal data, why not rip out the 10gig drive and replace it with TWO nice and shiny, large internal drives?

2. Buy a USB 2 expansion card. These add USB2 ports to older PCs and simply click into a space PCI slot on your motherboard (I picked one up a while back for an aging PC for £20)

To find out if you have USB 2 open 'device manager' (depending on what operating system you have this can be found by right clicking on the 'my computer' icon on your desktop and selecting 'properties' or by looking in 'control panel' for either device manager or system properties) and expand the 'universal serial bus' section.

If you have USB 2, somewhere in there will be an entry for 'enhanced usb controller' or a variation on that, your looking specifically for the word 'enhanced'

Answer 2

It will work, but at reduced speed. However, with an old PC you will not know the difference. Look in your device manager and check the USB controllers. If you do not see "enhanced", you have 1.1. A 2.0 PCI card is relatively cheap, and worth the money. you can add 4 external and 1 internal via PCI.

Answer 3

It will work, but will run at USB1.1 speeds (11mbps) not USB 2 speeds (480mpbs)
Also if the PC is that old, it is likely on Win2000 or Win98 which need USB device drivers for each device.
Also if 98 it NEEDS to me 98Second Edition to operate USB properly.

Might be time to look at a total system upgrade.

Answer 4

I think it's time to upgrade. You may not want to spend the cash, but you're going to have to. It could be in the next year or 18 months, but it's going to have to be done.

If cost is a real issue then there are excellent PC prices around. If ease of use and reliability is more important then look at Apple. I know your current PC has gone on for years, but the later windows operating systems are a royal pain (just look around Yahoo answers).

Evidence with a light side...

Alexander Chancellor
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian

While in New York, I paid a visit to a glamorous downtown computer shop in the hope of being tempted. Although I have a laptop that works perfectly well, I wanted an excuse to buy a new one, especially as computers are much cheaper in America than they are in Britain.

With my friend, Mike, a patriotic believer in the American way of commerce, I approached one of those knowledgeable and personable young salesmen that Macintosh employs to encourage customers to part with their money.

"What kind of computer do you have?" asked the salesman. "A PowerBook G4," I replied. "A PowerBook G4?" exclaimed Mike, striking his forehead with his hand in mock horror; for he knew that I wanted to be persuaded to replace it. "That's a good machine," said the salesman. "How old is it?" "About five years," I said. "Five years old!" shrieked Mike. But the salesman said: "I'd hang on to it if I were you. It should be good for a while yet."

"Who on earth trained you to be a salesman?" asked an astonished Mike before we left the shop empty-handed; the young man just smiled. I am beginning to be worried about the future of the United States.

in: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2098261,00.html

___________________
found on yahoo answers - anti-vista

http://www.jibjab.com/view/111288

Answer 5

It will work since you might have USB 1.0 or 1.1...and if you plug in a hard disk which is USB 2.0 ...it will work slow ..but will definitely work!

Answer 6

Tengo un par de memorias de USB comprados en los sitios web y siempre han sido de buena calidad, he visto algo diferente e interesante y le he comprado enseguida, aunque no es el mejor producto de mercado, el diseño me gusta un montón y para los documentes es perfectos además lo uso como llavero, una compra muy buena.

Answer 7

2) It'll still work but will be a lot slower